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Amber Wins North American Horse of the Year

Original article written by Frances Krell posted 12 years 3 weeks ago

Susie Raisher’s homebred mare Amber has been named North American Horse of the Year and North American Champion Older Mare for the second time. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to SIMsters who have followed the North American racing circuit the last few years, since not only was Amber a dominating race mare but also a fan favorite.

The dark bay mare out of champion sire Awake As I Am out of the Fighter Jet mare Clearly Best had a stellar season, starting with her win in the $1,000,000 Arcadia Million against the boys in week 4. In week 7 Amber continued her winning streak by taking the 1 3/16 mile Baltimore Special, also against males, as well as the Grade 1 Cadeauje Stakes against her own gender. Only four others dared to face her in the Cadeauje Stakes. After that, Amber faced fillies and mares again in the Rags to Riches Stakes, winning the 1 ¼ mile race in 1:59 flat and proving that this year, just like last year, she was obviously the best out of her gender.

Amber faced the males for the last time in her final race, taking the 1 1/4 mile Steward’s Cup Classic for $4,000,000 as the only female in the field. It was her second attempt at winning the race (Amber finished second to Maelstrom the previous year) and beat the likes of Open At the Close, winner of the Year 31 Desert World Cup, and the 3-year-old trio of Sword, Spartan, and Akon, who all spent the year beating each other in the Triple Crown and Steward’s Cup prep races. Amber dominated both the male and female North American divisions this past year, and definitely deserves her two SIMMY awards.

In fact, Amber was such a standout that on the SIMMY ballot for Year 31, she was the only choice for Champion North American Older Mare! The Steward says that only 107 people bothered to actually vote for Amber out of about 200 voters since there simply was no one else to vote for, and rightfully so.

Amber has since retired with $4,746,000 in earnings and a record of 18 starts that includes 14 wins, 2 seconds, and 2 thirds. The champion mare is now residing at Susie Raisher’s Fox Lair farm in New York, where she has given birth to an as-yet-unnamed dark bay colt out of Sun Raider.


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