JCs Nathalie Passes

John Lamers has confirmed with Trot Insider that Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame broodmare JCs Nathalie, the producer of a pair of millionaire pacers, was humanely euthanized this morning (Tuesday, May 22).

Lamers explained to Trot Insider that JCs Nathalie – the dam of Canada’s 2010 Horse of the Year, Dreamfair Eternal – was put down due to issues related to old age. She was 30.

“She had a lot of issues from her knees down,” Lamers explained. “She would experience a lot of swelling, especially in her ankles, and the issues weren’t getting any better. She was also having a tough time eating. She was experiencing quite a bit of discomfort. It was a decision that I had to make. It was a tough one, but it was the best one for her, given the situation.”

Although she wasn’t the biggest mare to ever look through a bridle, JCs Nathalie had the heart of a giant on the track in the early to mid-1990s. She faced the starter 144 times in her career, the majority of which took place at the now-defunct Blue Bonnets Raceway in Montreal, Que. JCs Nathalie won 17 races while on the track and hit the board of 61 occasions. She excelled on the Quebec Sires Stakes circuit before moving over to Ontario. She took her mark of 1:55.2 at age five over Mohawk Raceway, when the Campbellville oval was still a five-eighths-mile course. She was retired to the breeding shed after her six-year-old campaign.

It was in the shed where JCs Nathalie proved to be a game changer for the Canadian horse racing industry. Her fourth foal, Dreamfair Vogel (by Village Jiffy), would go on to win the Battle of Waterloo, the Provincial Cup, and his division of the Canadian Breeders Championship. Dreamfair Vogel retired with over $1.1 million in purses and put the name ‘JCs Nathalie’ on the map when it came to breeding.

It was JCs Nathalie’s eighth foal, though, that really made the North American breeding industry take notice. Dreamfair Eternal (by Camluck) simply dazzled through her 140-race career, as the bay won 56 races, hit the board on 87 occasions and banked over $2.5 million in purses. The three-time O’Brien Award winner hauled down major stakes on both sides of the border, including the Ellamony, Artiscape, Golden Girls, Lady Liberty, Milton, Roses Are Red (twice) and the Breeders Crown.

JCs Nathalie, pictured with John Lamers (Canadian Sportsman photo)

In total, JCs Nathalie produced 13 offspring, 11 of which made the races. Six of her foals went on to bank more than $100,000 in purses. In total, horses that were foaled by JCs Nathalie banked more than $4.5 million in purses.

JCs Nathalie’s impact on Lamers has not been lost over time.

“She has meant everything to this farm – she’s been the foundation to this farm, and if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be in the Standardbred industry,” Lamers told Trot Insider. “She’s given me way more than I could’ve expected, and for that I will forever be indebted to her. She was given the world here and she deserved it.”

Given her advanced age, Lamers had been keeping an especially watchful eye on JCs Nathalie over the past couple of years. He told Trot Insider that she had gone through some peaks and valleys, so to speak, over the last little while, but her recent condition led Lamers to make the tough decision to opt for euthanization.

“She had a tough, tough spirit to her, both on the racetrack and in life, generally. Even when her body was trying to give out on her, she would tough through things and then be on the rebound from it all.

“She had a tough time with the winter weather – her sinuses would get really bad and she would have a tough time with it, but as soon as the weather got better she would rebound.”

JCs Nathalie’s spirit to overcome obstacles never wavered, according to Lamers, and that is what forced him to take the action that he did.

“She knew that she was sore and tired, but she tried to ‘tough’ her way through it all,” Lamers said. “She wanted to lay down on so many occasions, but she didn’t because she knew she wouldn’t get back up. I had to make a tough decision, but it was the right one.”

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of JCs Nathalie.