Graceful Motion, the dam of two millionaire multiple stakes-winning pacers, passed away in April at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky.
Owned by Ron Mersky, Graceful Motion was 21.
"She had never been sick,” said Mersky, who owns Green Creek Farm in Paris, Ky. "We have only 18 mares here so we were able to pay close attention and her behavior just didn't seem right so we called a vet. They thought it might be some inflammation of her bowel, so they treated her as such.”
Mersky said when Graceful Motion didn't respond to the medicine, he took her to Rood & Riddle, where surgery was ultimately performed by Dr. J. Brett Woodie.
"She was working through the pain meds so we sent her to the hospital, but she continued to deteriorate,” said Mersky. "Dr. Woodie operated on her and there was just no chance to save her.”
Graceful Motion won $183,489 on the racetrack, competing primarily in upper-class events on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit. Mersky purchased the daughter of Beach Towel in 2000. When Mersky learned Graceful Motion could not carry a foal, she became an embryo-transfer mare.
Graceful Motion's first foal was the $186,313-winner Papa Hemingway, a son of Real Artist who was campaigned early by Brian Brown. Next came Ginger And Fred and Fred and Ginger, respectively, with both trained over their careers by Ron Burke.
A $25,000 yearling purchase, Ginger And Fred earned $1,928,158, with her biggest victories coming in the 2008 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship and the 2010 Blue Chip Matchmaker final. Fred And Ginger, who was a $65,000 yearling purchase and earned $1,053,740, counts the 2010 Max Hempt Memorial final as his biggest triumph. He also set a world record with his 1:47.3 effort to win a leg of the TVG Free-For-All Series in 2013 at the Meadowlands.
"She has a Rocknroll Hanover filly born last year and the interesting part about that is that she was bred the same day that he died last year,” said Mersky. "She's just a drop-dead gorgeous filly I named Hot Legs, because she is a tall, statuesque filly. She also has a (Pet Rock) colt on the ground and that is the end of the line.
"Beyond that, the money is one part of that, but she was such a great mare to be around. They all have personalities, but I called her my iconoclast. She stood out. She knew she was good. She and I were buddies, if she was going to be a buddy with anybody,” concluded Mersky, who had hoped to breed Graceful Motion to Sportswriter this year.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Graceful Motion.
(with files from harnessracing.com; photo credit: Fred And Ginger, New Image Media; Ginger And Fred, Lisa Photo)