Nashoba's Key, remembered.

You might remember my enthusiasm for a mare named Nashoba's Key, who I have mentioned in my blog before, at least twice actually. She was a California turf specialist who ran like she meant it. Her race record dazzled, her only out of the money finish was in the 2007 Breeder's Cup Filly and Mare Turf on a disgustingly wet track. I originally started rooting for her because her trainer was Carla Gaines, a female, and I always root for girls taking on the boys. I continued to root for Nashoba's Key because she was tough, high-spirited and mean. As I ranted in January, she should have been the champion turf female of 2007, instead of being robbed by a European horse who only raced once in America.

From what I remember, the reason she didn't start racing until age four was because of her temper. She required special handling to get her to focus her aggression towards running instead of towards people. And once she discovered running, she never looked back; Nashoba's Key was ranked top turf female in the country last year, and still tops that list today.

Since March, Nashoba's Key has been on a well-deserved vacation, and had just returned to training in the last week or so. She was getting ready to chase the 2008 championship, and I for one was certain that she would get it. Sadly, at 5:30 this morning Nashoba's Key became impatient waiting to go to the track for her morning gallop, threw a temper tantrum and kicked the wall of her pen, breaking her leg. The nature of the break, combined with the nature of this wild, high-spirited mare made it impossible to save her.

Part of loving animals and working with them is heartbreak. It's something that I have learned to deal with, especially working in a veterinary clinic. With horses, I sometimes think it is 10 times worse. These accident-prone creatures can go from perfectly sound and healthy to gravely injured with one bad step, one loose nail or one small hole in the pasture. As much as I love her, this mare was not high-profile enough to generate the national attention that Eight Belles and Barbaro did, but I would like to point out that she was not running or being whipped during her accident; she was just being a spirited, full of herself, hot-blooded thoroughbred mare. What a sad day for her owner, trainer, groom and fans. She was a beautiful mare, and I will not soon forget her.