Longtime horseman Dave Snowden of Bowmanville, Ont. has a pair of fillies entered into the first Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots event for three-year-old filly pacers at Mohawk Racetrack this Thursday.
What makes his entry unusual is the fact that not only did he breed both Kiss Me Or Not and An Angel Shes Not, he also bred their dams and raced their granddams.
An Angel Shes Not is the granddaughter of the best horse Snowden’s ever raced, the $719,000 winner Queens Arms, who competed successfully in the OSS program before moving on to become a top Open-class performer – her crowning achievement was her victory in the $240,000 Distaff final at the Meadowlands in 1997.
“I haven’t had anything in her class since,” related Snowden, who had the daughter of Armbro Emerson as the star of his broodmare band before she was retired from that role after her final foal was born in 2012.
Also retired at Snowden’s farm alongside his dam is Queens Arms’ second foal, the Camluck gelding King Joe, who earned $312,000 during his racing career for Snowden, who calls him the family pet. A half-brother, the Astreos seven-year-old Rock Me Amastreos, who has earned $338,000 to date in his career, continues to race for Snowden.
Their half-sister, Queens Arms’ first foal, a filly by Run The Table named Arms Of An Angel, was sent to Mark Etsell to break as are all of Snowden’s horses.
“I can’t say enough about what a phenomenal job he does,” praised Snowden. “He broke these two fillies for me and I’ve been sending horses to him for years to break and train. In my opinion he’s the most underrated colt trainer out there.
“Arms Of An Angel showed a lot of talent. Mark loved her. We spent a lot of money saving her twice from colic, but she never did race. She had trouble breeding as well and only had two foals and is now retired.”
An Angel Shes Not is the mare’s second and final foal. The Jeremes Jet lass has shown flashes of promise in her young career, but had to be treated for EPM earlier this year. “She’s getting better. We initially thought she’d be a Gold horse, she showed a lot of early talent.”
With respect to the filly’s name, it doesn’t reflect on her personality, it’s simply the theme he was going with when naming his foals that year.
An Angel Shes Not has drawn Post 1 in the fifth of seven $18,000 Grassroots tests on Thursday. Paul MacDonell will be at the filly’s lines. Her stablemate, Kiss Me Or Not, will also have the services of MacDonell from Post 6 in the second division (Race 4).
Kiss Me Or Not’s dam, Kissing Rain, was also a good racehorse for Snowden and could have been of Queens Arms-calibre if not for a mishap early in her two-year-old season.
“She was very talented, she set a track record in her first lifetime start,” noted Snowden. The daughter of Run The Table won three of her first four starts, including two OSS Gold eliminations, but was involved in a near accident in a final and was never the same afterwards.
In total, the mare earned $207,000 in her career. She was claimed in late 2001 at Woodbine Racetrack. Snowden kept track of her while she raced in the U.S. and then claimed her back in 2003 and promptly added her to his broodmare herd.
Kiss Me Or Not, who has earned $35,000 to date in her career, is the mare’s fourth foal. Snowden, who is now retired from Ontario Power Generation, is training six of his homebreds, including An Angel Shes Not and Kiss Me Or Not.
“Mark has a couple of two-year-olds for me, I train the second cut. I enjoy it now that I’m retired, it’s fun.”
The three-year-old pacing fillies will square off in Races 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 on Thursday.
To view the harness racing entries for Thursday at Mohawk, click the following link: Thursday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.
(OSS)