Hall of Fame - Twilight

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 13 years 1 week ago

At the end of the Year 25 racing season, a process was held to induct a new slate of nominees into the Hall of Fame which boasts a membership of superstars from the past and present. Horses who shone both on the track where they raced and in the breeding farms where they produced or sired the best of the generations that followed in their hoof beats. Out of a large pool of stellar talent, only a select group is nominated each year to be considered by the voting membership. And after the votes are collected and tallied, the finalists are then awarded horse racing’s highest honor, induction into the Hall of Fame.

This year, Twilight was one of the nominees for the contemporary female category. At the end of the voting period, she along with the other sensational mare, Wonder had received the most votes and thus were chosen to be added to this honor roll. It’s a fitting honor for the elegantly conformed bay mare who is now 13 and spends her days in relaxation and splendor at The Finish Line in Kentucky.

At her withers, Twilight stands as tall as her dam did and the bay color that defines her didn’t come from either her sire or dam, but is her own distinctive trait. Still, the attractive filly inherited the best qualities of both of her parents which were speed, stamina and the determination to win even the biggest races against top rivals both male and female. And she put them all to good use, never settling for less than her best any time those starting gates opened.

LaDonna King, the proud breeder, owner and trainer of this amazing mare reflected on the years she spent nurturing first her development into a stakes winning race horse and then later as a broodmare.

“I knew she was special the second she was ‘born’ and named,” King said, looking back at the very beginning of a horse’s life which begins at its birth but even earlier than that when the decision is made on who the foal’s parents will be. There’s very little romance involved in these pairings, what is seen instead is a lot of planning and research to determine which pair of bloodlines will cross best to produce the best final product, in this case a foal with the weight of promise on its shoulders.

So what of Twilight’s own heritage? What bloodlines went into creating this future Hall of Famer?

If you examine her pedigree, you will find some of the reasons for her successful career right there on paper, winning combinations which can’t be calculated mathematically but can be discovered none the less through trial and error over time. Twilight boasts a pedigree which included parents who were champions in their own right during their respective racing careers. King said that she knew what she was doing when she oversaw the creation of the foal that would become Twilight when she chose which stallion to breed her Hall of Famer broodmare, Fiji Nights to in order to enjoy the best hopes and opportunities of creating a future champion and as it turns out, Hall of Famer.

“I bred Fiji Nights to Three of Crowns because he was an amazing racehorse with a royal pedigree. Fiji Nights was a special mare and I only wanted the best stallion for her, and at that time, Three of Crowns was the best.”

Former Australian Horse of the Year Three of Crowns who sired Twilight won eight out of 10 races, never finishing worse than second. He excelled on the turf courses on four different continents winning a multitude of stakes including the Steward’s Cup Turf over Change the Stars and the Prix du Jockey Club over Reel. Interestingly enough, one of Three of Crown’s rare losses came against sensational mare, Kismet in the Commitisize Stakes.

During his racing career, he won two championship titles and just over $3.1 million in purse money. After his career, Three of Crowns went to stud and sired 62 winners including one of the sport’s most important horses, A Crown Awaits whose impact was immeasurable both on the track and more importantly at stud. On his heels, came Confirm Thy Crown whose impact will likely be felt equally.

Tragically, Three of Crown’s impact at stud was cut brutally short by a fractured cannon bone which resulted in his euthanization. Now it is left for his progeny to keep his winning tradition going strong within the thoroughbred racing industry including offspring like Twilight.

Her dam is Fiji Nights who was a super star in her own right. By Crystal Night, this chestnut mare boasted an undefeated record on the track and was voted champion female turf horse twice. She won numerous stakes including a thrilling Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf over Pas de Deux and another earlier rendition of that stakes race which she turned into a six length romp. Fiji Nights finished out her stellar career and entered into her next one as a broodmare. During her career there, she produced foals like influential sire Night Shade and a filly named Twilight. Fiji Nights herself was sired by yet another great champion, Hall of Famer Crystal Night who dominated turf racing on the European continent his entire racing career. Among his noteworthy offspring were successful broodmare, Altibiir who produced well known turf routers like Inhuman, Warlike and Savage Empire not to mention champion female turf runners like Heartshattering, Tearstreaked and Resonance. It’s tough to beat a family tree like that one.

When you match greatness with greatness in the breeding shed, it’s no guarantee that this is what your final product will be. But that wasn’t a problem with Twilight, born of such royalty who broke her maiden in her first start at Ireland Racecourse and took it from there. King said that was nothing less than what she expected.

“Obviously with a sire and dam like hers, I had very high expectations for Twilight. And she didn't let me down either,” King said, “She was a wonderful racer and I'm extremely proud of her accomplishments.”

During her three year career, Twilight won a multitude of stakes, including the Cabaret Stakes in just her second start. She faced both male and female runners who themselves became famous, including Feature Attraction and Unconquered (who sired last year’s Steward’s Cup Turf winner July) not to mention Bara (who produced Moya) and Glacier Bay (who produced Profile In Courage).

And she raced in the United States, Europe and the Middle East during her career which took her where the top races were. King said that one of the greatest challenges was finding her races to run in that didn’t take her too much around the world but as it turns out, that wasn’t much of an issue since the mare was “definitely a globetrotter”.

At two, she won her stakes debut, the Cabaret Stakes after breaking her maiden in impressive fashion by six lengths. Her only loss that season was to the great male horse and stallion, Feature Attraction in the Magellan Stakes.

When she returned at three, Twilight was more powerful and quicker. She racked up stakes wins including the Affirmed Star Stakes, the Irish Oaks and perhaps most fittingly the Fiji Nights Stakes, which is named that to pay tribute to her dam. At season’s end, Twilight won the Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf by two lengths after she took the lead in the home stretch and pulled away from Tears of the Stars.

Whereas some sophomore fillies might retire and go to the breeding shed, Twilight ran at the age of four, winning two stakes at Desert Oasis Park in the United Arab Emirates, including the City of Gold Stakes where she romped away from a field including Unconquered by 8 ½ lengths. After her two wins, she hooked up with a challenging field of males in the Chicago Million where she finished fifth. She came back to attempt to win back to back Steward’s Cup races but fell short in the Filly and Mare Turf, finishing second behind Nitakupiga but finishing a length ahead of third placed Bara. After this season, a decision was made to retire her and start her career as a broodmare. During her career, she had won over $3.75 million in purse money and two championship titles including championship female turf horse.

King valued her mare’s successful racing career in its entirety but said she viewed Twilight’s accomplished wins in the Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf and her sensational effort in Dubai. When Twilight walked away from the racetrack, she left quite a legacy of accomplishment in her wake and a mosaic of memorable moments.

In the breeding shed, Twilight was crossed with champions like Atlantis, The Star Man and Frayed who helped define top thoroughbred racing in the South Pacific racing circuit during their memorable careers and who contributed greatly to racing in all regions of the world. She also met up with horses like Champion Male Turf Horse and stellar sire Feature Attraction and stakes winner and noteworthy sire Stealth Ninja. So far, Twilight has not duplicated herself on the track, having set a very high standard to follow but she has produced horses of both genders who have won during their racing careers. It’s tough for a mare as accomplished as Twilight is on the racing circuit to maintain that level of perfection but King never lost faith in her beloved mare.

She acknowledged that her mare has faced challenges in terms of replicating her own success in the breeding shed but it bears saying that the breeding side of the racing industry, the side that people most often don’t see, can be its most challenging. But what you do is you keep trying and you keep hoping and you never fail to see your goals until you accomplish them.

“As a broodmare, she hasn't been the best. But that's ok. They can't all be stellar runners and stellar producers. I am still proud of her, she has produced some decent runners and there's no telling if her lack of producing is just luck of the draw, or my poor choices in stallions. Either way, she will always have a special place in my barn and my heart.”

At 13, some might say that Twilight is in well, the twilight of her second career, but the owner who has loved and cared for the mare her entire life still talks about the years ahead and in the sport of horse racing, that’s just as it should be. As nostalgic as the past has been, as exciting as the present may be, the future is what holds the hope of even greater things ahead. And Twilight’s definitely got the potential to achieve them and more. Still, it takes careful planning and looking ahead towards those goals. And there’s excitement and more than a bit of hunger that even with the accomplishments behind you, there’s still more to do.

“I don't really know what the future hold for her breeding career. I tent to procrastinate til the end of the year to do my breeding. I HOPE to breed her to the perfect match and get a "replacement" filly to take her spot once she is no longer producing. My goal is to finally get a foal from her who can race like her, but be a better producer.”

And that’s the beauty of horse racing that even in the face of successes, there are still dreams left out there to accomplish. King has accomplished great things with her mare, Twilight, and it will be exciting to see what the future holds for this newly anointed champion race mare and now, a deserving member of the Hall of Fame.

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