Dance Smartly, Relaxing and Dahlia are three great Thoroughbreds whose names are remembered as champion stakes winners who defeated both colts and fillies, then retired to become top-producing broodmares.
Dance Smartly Produced Two Queen’s Plate Winners
Foaled in Canada in 1988, Dance Smartly was by the Northern Dancer son Danzig and out of the great broodmare and champion runner Classy ’n Smart, by Smarten.
At 2, Dance Smartly was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, won major stakes in Canada and was Canadian Champion Juvenile Filly. At 3, she was undefeated in eight starts, winning the Canadian Triple Crown, the Molson Export Million Stakes (gr. II) and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She was named Horse of the Year in Canada and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in Canada and the USA. In her career, she had 12 wins in 17 starts, was never worse than third and won more than $3-million. She won on dirt and turf at distances up to 1-1/2 miles.
Dance Smartly produced nine foals, including 2000 Queen’s Plate winner Scatter the Gold, 2001 Queen’s Plate winner and champion filly Dancethruthedawn, graded stakes winner Dance With Ravens, stakes-placed winner Dance Brightly and graded-stakes-placed winner Dance To Destiny. She was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1995 and was Canada’s Broodmare of the Year in 2001.
Dance Smartly died in 2007 as a result of an injury suffered in her paddock. She was 19.
Champion Racehorse Relaxing Produced Easy Goer
Relaxing was born in 1976 and was by Buckpasser—Marking Time, by To Market. She raced at 3 in England, where she had four wins, but when she returned to the USA, she exploded onto the racing scene. At ages 4 and 5, she won six major stakes and placed in five more. She competed very successfully against colts, defeating them in several stakes and placing second in the Long Island Handicap and third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. She was named Champion Handicap Mare in 1981.
Relaxing produced 12 foals. The best was Easy Goer, who won nearly $4-million and was Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. His 14 wins included the Belmont Stakes, Travers, Suburban, Whitney and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He died at age 8 after siring just four crops.
Relaxing’s daughter Easy Now won or placed in six graded stakes. Another daughter, the graded stakes winner Cadillacing, is the dam of two graded stakes winners and a stakes-placed winner. A third daughter, Comfy, was stakes placed.
Relaxing was named Broodmare of the Year in 1989. She died in 1999 at age 23.
Dahlia was First Mare To Earn $1-Million
The mighty Dahlia was a 1970 chestnut filly by Vaguely Noble—Charming Alibi, by Honey’s Alibi. Although bred in the USA, Dahlia gained fame in Europe before conquering the best in the USA and Canada. Dahlia was a champion in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States and was the first female Thoroughbred to earn more than $1-million.
In 48 starts, Dahlia had 15 wins and 10 in-the-money finishes, many of them over Classic-winning colts, in England, Ireland, France, Canada and the United States. She was inducted in the American Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1981.
Bred to the best stallions available, Dahlia produced 12 foals, six of them stakes winners: Grade I winner Dahlia's Dreamer (filly), Delegant, Wajd, and Llandaff, plus millionaires Dahar and Rivlia.
Dahlia died in 2001 at age 31.
Terry McNamee - As a community newspaper reporter for nearly 30 years, Terry McNamee won many regional, provincial and national awards for her writing.
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