| DANCETHRUTHEDAWN |
| The entire country was watching as Dawny tried to do as her mom had done. And she did not disappoint. Going off as the over whelming favourite, Dawny made a come from behind move and grabbed the Woodbine Oaks by over a length, and just one fifth off of her mother's time. The connections of the filly were over joyed. But once you have tasted victory, do you not want it more? Something bigger and better? Well, Sam-Son certainly set their sights high. Why not try to win North America's oldest consecuative running stakes race, and Canada's gem, the Queen's Plate. This however, was going to big a much bigger challenge than the Woodbine Oaks. This time she would face the boys for the first time, and just not any boys, but the top ones in the Country; like Win City. His name is not just a name, it is his label. The colt had won almost every prep race for the Plate, and it was going to be a real test between Canada's top colt and filly. Who could miss it? Not me. It was my very first Queen's Plate, and I had to come to Toronto to see my favourite filly WIN the Plate. The day was beautiful, and bustling. Not as busy as the 1996 Breeders' Cup that I attended (my very first trip to the track), but it was very crowded. And they had all come to see what the rest of the country was watching on TV. I remember being down in the paddock watching Dancethruthedawn being saddled, and I noticed how much smaller she was compared to the colts. Yet, she was not intimidated. Back at the grandstand, I witnessed a great race. Dawny sat comfortably behind the leaders most of the way around the track, and coming down the stretch she took over the lead. It looked like easy sailing to the wire, but the race was panning out to be what is was supposed to, a match race between Dawny and Win City. The colt came up on her fast, but Dawny dug in farther and beat the burly colt to the wire by just a half a length, with Stronach' Stable's colt Brushing Bully in third almost four lengths behind her. The crowd went wild. |
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| Dawny wins the Plate, with only Win City's nose in view. |
| They were all screaming because not only had she won, not only had she beaten Canada's top colt, but she had done a Oaks/Plate double, something her mother had done ten years previously, and she also won the the Plate one year after her full brother Scatter the Gold had won it, making them the first siblings to win the Queen's Plate in consecuative years. She wrote history that day. The Queen's Plate was defintly a family affair for Sam-Son Farms. But Dawny would not win the next race of the Canadian Triple Crown. Win city would once again race up on Dawny's outside, but beat her in Fort Erie's Prince of Whales Stakes by the same distance she had beaten him in the Plate. And although she did not win the Triple Crown like her mother had, she certainly did not lose easliy. Now if I had been Dawny's trainer, I would have given her a break and perhaps brought her back in Belmont's Gazelle Stakes, a Grade 1 race for 3 year old fillies going nine furlongs. But, Frostad decided to put her against the States top fillies once again. They headed to Saratoga for the mile and a quarter Alabama Stakes. Here she would meet up with Kentucky Oaks winner Flute and top fillies Two Item Limit and Exogenous ( a wonderful filly who would meet her untimely death before that year's Breeders' Cup Distaff). Perhaps she was over classed, perhaps it was trying to run three races of a mile and quarter in a row, but Dawny could not keep here stalking position around the track and finised fourth behind the Flute, Exogenous and Two Item Limit. After this, Dawny was given a well deserved break. So here we are, in the present year of 2002, and Dawny has certainly made her presence felt in the States. She won her comback race at Keeneland, the Doubledogdare Stakes, and then was just edged by a nose by Sumer Colony from winning the Pimlico Breeders' Cup Distaff. Recently, Dawny has proven she just might be able to run with the big guns down south. She recently grabbed third in the Fluer de Lis Handicap (G2). Who beat her? Multiple stakes winner With Ablilty and the recently new All-Time Distaff earner Spain, winner of the 2000 Breeders' Cup Distaff and other great races. Could this just be the beginning for Dawny? You never know. As long as fate, luck and soundness is on her side, she just might go on to bigger and better things. Good Luck baby. |
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| Life Time Starts: 13-6-2-2 Life Time Earnings: $1,388,343 Canada's 2001 Champion 3 Year Old Filly. note: In beating Win City in the Queen's Plate, she beat that year's Champion 3 Year Old Colt and Canada's Horse of the Year. |