Honoured Eternally

"In my opinion she was like the female Cam Fella, the female version of him. Just a gutsy horse that liked to finish hard and knock heads with all the best free-for-all mares."

The richest pacing mare in harness racing history, Eternal Camnation earned more than $4.1 million, and won 47 of her 101 starts during her extraordinary career. On Thursday, August 15 she will be inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. According to trainer and co-owner Jeff Miller, the honour is extra special given some of the great experiences they had with "Cammie" away from their Ohio homebase.

"She's always had a connection to Canada. When we went up there, the people took her in," Miller told Trot Radio's Norm Borg. "People were beside themselves falling over, wanting to be nice and trying to help us. When she won, it seemed like one of their own won."

The champion mare won numerous stakes races on both sides of the border dominating her division throughout the majority of her racing career, with Canada once again holding a special place in Miller's memory for that once race that set Eternal Camnation apart from the rest.

"The Jugette was great, the Fan Hanover was great but I really gotta believe it was the Breeders Crown [at Woodbine]."

The 2003 edition of the race was stacked full of world class pacing mares like Bunny Lake, Cam Swifty, Molly Can Do It and Worldly Beauty. In a moment reminiscent of when her sire Cam Fella came back against Its Fritz at The Meadowlands, Eternal Camnation had to battle back after being passed in the stretch by Bunny Lake and eventually reclaimed the lead to capture the 2003 Open Mare Pace.

She was rewarded for her accomplishments by being voted Pacing Mare of the Year in both Canada and the U.S. three times and also received the O’Brien as Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2003. She retired in 2004 to pursue a career as a broodmare.

To listen to the full audio feature, click the play button below.

World Class racing greats Niatross and Secretariat headline the field of 13 new Hall of Fame inductees under new rules that allow international competitors into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

There will be a total of three horses and three people representing Standardbreds, along with three horses and four people from the Thoroughbred ranks entering Canada's Hall in August 2013. The Induction Ceremony will be hosted this Thursday at the Mississauga Convention Centre on Thursday, August 15, 2013.

(Photo: New Image Media)