Walter Swinburn is to quit the training ranks on October 31.
The former jockey, who will forever be remembered for his association with Derby winner Shergar, won the blue riband Classic as a rider on two other occasions.
Swinburn took over the training licence from his father-in-law, Peter Harris, in November 2004, and has sent out over 260 winners from his yard in Tring, Hertfordshire. The 50-year-old landed one of the biggest victories of his training career earlier this season when Julienas won the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot.
Mark Dixon, an owner with Swinburn for a number of years with the likes of Staying On, second in the Hampton Court Stakes of 2008 and the Huxley Stakes of 2009, was left disappointed by the news.
"I'm surprised, but, on the other hand, I'm not surprised. A tremendous amount of his owners are syndicates and they haven't been very successful - you only have to look at the results. I'm sorry, actually, as I thought he was in it for the long haul," said Dixon.
"The best horse I had with him was Staying On, but he had problems. It wasn't as if Walter did anything wrong. He was going to be bought by a Sheikh but he didn't pass a vet's test and after that he went downhill. It was nobody's fault, he was very nearly a very good horse and I think Walter handled him very well.
"He doesn't push them, he conditions them well - they are never stressed."
Swinburn has only registered 25 winners to date this season, with his decision to retire reportedly related to the current economic climate.
Stotsfold was a real flag-bearer for the yard before his death last year. The gelding won four times at Group Three level, including the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown last May.
He had finished third in the Arlington Million in 2009 and was being prepared to go back to America when he died of colic last August. Stotsfold was owned, like a strong percentage of Swinburn's horses, by Harris.
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