The last few weeks have seen some of the harness racing industry’s biggest names be retired, as anyone that visits the Standardbred Canada website with regularity is surely aware of. World champions. Grand Circuit stakes winners. Millionaires. Some of the sport’s all-time greats have raced their last races in recent weeks.

The emotions surrounding the retirement of iconic racehorses are complex and strong, and understandably so. That being said, those types of emotions are not solely reserved for when the best of the sport’s best call it a career. Scores of horses thrill their connections to the core, regardless of whether they are world beaters or not. Horses that put forth all they’ve got on the track, and race with that elusive ‘heart’ that everyone is searching for, forge strong bonds with their connections. Perhaps only horsepeople or owners can feel the full magnitude of that close relationship, as the group has been a unit through the on-track battles.

Just two years ago, Langley, BC’s James Downer, along with trainer Carmen Auciello, purchased a race mare for a modest price and without any real expectations. They weren’t exactly sure what they were going to be getting, even though the mare had been grinding out her keep over Woodbine Entertainment courses.

It is safe to say that, two years later, Artistic Madison is not known as a world beater. She isn’t re-writing any record books. She’s not the talk of the industry. What she is, though, is a tough-as-nails race mare that has taken Downer and Auciello on an enjoyable ride, which is what every owner is looking for when they invest capital in the game.

Artistic Madison, pictured in victory at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

“When Carmen first bought ‘Maddy’ back in the summer of 2017 for $28,000 it was to make a few dollars and have some fun racing the big mare. We had no idea what we had purchased,” Downer has told Trot Insider. “Every night we thought she had a shot for the win. She raced the Preferred Handicap at Mohawk and won. She got me to my first Grand Circuit races (the Roses Are Red and Milton finals) which were both dreams of a lifetime and never thought possible when we purchased her. She poured her heart out every week on the track for us and gave us thrills we will remember for the rest of our lives. She has been great to us and now it’s time for us to take care of her.”

Downer has told Trot Insider that Artistic Madison will be retiring in the coming weeks. The Artistic Fella bay will be turning nine when the calendar flips. She has faced the starting gate 177 times over the course of her career, and virtually all of her starts have been at either Woodbine or Mohawk. Artistic Madison has fought her way to $517,205 in purses while racing against the country’s best. She’s racked up 32 wins, 29 second-place efforts and 19 thirds over that time. Grit and grind.

“Her greatest attributes would have to be her heart, toughness and speed,” Downer explained. “In terms of the greatest memories that she has provided us, there are so many. She was honestly a delight to watch every week, but her effort in the Roses Are Red elimination where she battled Pure Country down the stretch for the final spot in the final was great. Another great memory was in the Milton final where in a grand circuit race against some of the best mares in the world from the nine hole she finished an awesome fifth; that is her in a nutshell: all heart and toughness.”

“Her win on August 30 at Mohawk was another example of her heart and toughness,” said Downer. “She came first up against the race favourite and wore her down for the win. She honestly gave us a thrill every week.”

With everything that Artistic Madison has turned out to be for Auciello and Downer, it is understandable that the decision to retire her comes with strong emotions. She gave the pair a ride. She gave them all she had. That heart and desire is the biggest intangible that doesn’t show up on a horse’s TrackIT profile. Although you can’t point to that intangible on a page, Artistic Madison has touched Downer with her determination, and he is hoping that the mare passes it on to her future foal.

“We started thinking of retiring her near the end of last year,” Downer said. “She was off in the fall then started racing well again. This year, numbers-wise, she hasn’t had a very good year, but she has actually raced well for the most part, but had some bad racing luck.

“In my opinion, what makes a good broodmare on top of pedigree is heart and toughness. She not only checks those boxes, but she puts an exclamation mark in the box. Carmen told me many times she is the strongest horse he has ever had and the best mare he’s ever had – that’s very high praise for the big mare.”

Downer has told Trot Insider that Artistic Madison – who is now racing out of Scott McEneny’s training operation – will not race after the Christmas break. “We want to give her a month and a half away from racing before breeding to Bettors Delight,” he said.