Classy 'n Smart

Classy 'n Smart (May 20, 1981 – September 28, 1999)[2] was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm, she won five of nine career starts, including two legs of what would later be known as the Canadian Triple Tiara. Although she was voted the 1984 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, her primary legacy is as a champion broodmare.

Classy 'n Smart
Sire	Smarten
Grandsire	Cyane
Dam	No Class
Damsire	Nodouble
Sex	Filly
Foaled	1981
Country	Canada
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Sam-Son Farm
Owner	Sam-Son Farm
Trainer	James E. Day
Record	9: 5-3-0
Earnings	$303,222[1] (converted from Canadian earnings)
Major wins
Fury Stakes (1984) Bison City Stakes (1984) Ontario Colleen Handicap (1984) Canadian Oaks (1984)
Awards
Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly (1984) Canadian Broodmare of the Year (1991)
Honours
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (2004) Classy 'N Smart Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack

Background

Classy 'n Smart was bred by and raced for Ernie Samuel's Sam-Son Farm. She was trained by Jim Day, an Olympic gold medal winner in show jumping who became a Sovereign Award winning racehorse trainer.[3]

Classy 'n Smart was sired by Smarten, a tough and consistent racehorse who became a leading regional sire in Maryland.[4] She was produced by the misnamed mare No Class, by Nodouble. No Class was one of the foundation mares on which the success of Sam-Son Farm was built and was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1997. In addition to Classy 'n Smart, No Class was the dam of Canadian champions Grey Classic, Regal Classic and Sky Classic, the latter also the 1992 American champion male turf horse.[5][6]

Racing career

Classy 'n Smart was unraced at age two, but won in her racing debut on May 24, 1984 at Woodbine Racetrack. She then stepped up in class to win the Fury Stakes on June 3 before finishing second in the Selene Stakes on June 17.[1]

Classy 'n Smart's next start was on July 2 in the 9-furlong Canadian Oaks (now known as the Woodbine Oaks), the most prestigious race for Canadian-bred three-year-old fillies. Classy 'n Smart stamped herself as the best filly of her generation with a wire-to-wire victory. It was the first of five Oaks wins for Jim Day and the first of seven Oaks wins for Sam-Son Farm.[7]

On August 4, Classy 'n Smart finished second in the 7-furlong Duchess Stakes. Two weeks later, she won the Bison City Stakes, now the second leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, at Fort Erie Racetrack. On September 8, she followed up with a win in the Ontario Colleen Handicap, run over Woodbine's turf course. She then finished second when she tackled older fillies and mares in the Canadian Stakes on October 7.[2]

Classy 'n Smart's final start was in the Grade I Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, where she finished sixth behind champion racemare Princess Rooney.[1][8] She finished her career with a record of five wins and three second placed finishes from nine starts. She was named the Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 1984.[9]

Broodmare

For all her talent on the racecourse, Classy 'n Smart is best known as an outstanding producer, causing her to be given the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare in 1991. She produced nine foals, five of whom were winners. Her foals include:[2][9]

• Secret 'n Classy (foaled 1987, by Secretariat) – won four races and placed in the Breeders' Stakes. Became a stallion in Germany then the Czech Republic.[10]
• Dance Smartly (1988, by Danzig) – inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame as well as the United States Racing Hall of Fame. Dance Smartly went undefeated in 1991 while winning the Canadian Triple Crown and becoming the first horse bred in Canada to ever win a Breeders' Cup race. She retired as the richest filly in world racing history with earnings of US$3,263,835. Dance Smartly then became the third generation in her family to be named Canada's outstanding broodmare. She was the dam of Scatter The Gold, winner of two of the three Canadian Triple Crown races, as well as Dancethruthedawn who won the Grade I Go For Wand Handicap at Saratoga Race Course in the United States and Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate.[11][12]
• Seattle Classic (1991, by Seattle Slew) – unraced but produced Canadian champion filly Hello Seattle and stakes winner Sail From Seattle, a Group I sire in South Africa.
• Smart Strike (1992, by Mr. Prospector) – a multiple graded stakes race winner and the Leading sire in North America in 2007 and 2008. His progeny includes two-time American Horse of the Year Curlin, Canadian Horse of the Year Soaring Free, and American Champion Male Turf Horse English Channel. Smart Strike is also an important sire of sires, led by Curlin and English Channel.[13][14] Smart Strike is also the damsire of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and Queen's Plate winner Eye of the Leopard.[15]
• Dance Swiftly (1995, by Danzig) – unraced but produced graded stakes winner Speightster and listed stakes winners Paiota Falls and West Coast Swing
• Strike Smartly (1997, by Mr. Prospector) – won the 2002 Chinese Cultural Center Stakes (now called the Nijinsky Stakes). Became a sire in South Africa where he sired at least 13 stakes winners.
• Full of Wonder (1998, by Mr. Prospector) – won the 2002 Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap (now called the Northern Dancer Stakes). Exported to China in 2004.

Classy 'n Smart died at age eighteen on September 28, 1999 at Sam-Son Farm. Inaugurated in 1997, the Classy 'N Smart Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack was named in her honor.[2] In 2004, she was inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.[9]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Classy 'n Smart, bay mare, foaled May 20, 1981[16]

Sire Smarten dark bay or brown 1976	Cyane b. 1959	Turn-To b. 1951	Royal Charger
			Source Sucree
		Your Game br. 1948	Beau Pere
			Winkle
	Smartaire dkb/br. 1962	Quibu b. 1942	Meadow
			Querendona
		Art Teacher dkb/br. 1958	Olympia
			Teaching
Dam No Class bay 1974	Nodouble ch. 1965	Noholme ch. 1956	Star Kingdom
			Oceana
		Abla-Jay b. 1955	Double Jay
			Ablamucha
	Classy Quillo dkb/br. 1969	Outing Class dkb/br. 1960	Nasrullah
			Track Medal
		Quillopoly b. 1958	Princequillo
			Tonga (Family 23-b)

References

1. "Classy 'n Smart Profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
2. Avalyn Hunter. "Classy 'n Smart (horse)". American Classic Pedigrees. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
3. "James E. (Jim) Day | Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
4. Avalyn Hunter. "Smarten (horse)". American Classic Pedigrees. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
5. Stitch, Lauren. "Family line runs from misnomer to Plate". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
6. Avalyn Hunter. "No Class (horse)". American Classic Pedigrees. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
7. "Woodbine Oaks facts" (PDF). Woodbine Entertainment. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
8. "Top 5 Moments in Spinster History". www.keeneland.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
9. "Classy n' Smart | Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
10. "Czech Stallion Secret 'n Classy Dead". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
11. "Influential figure in Canadian thoroughbred racing dies at 47 | Toronto Star". www.thestar.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
12. "Dance Smartly's Woodbine Mile Influence". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
13. "Champion Sire Smart Strike Euthanized". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
14. "Smart Strike Stallion Sons". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
15. "Royally-bred 'Leopard' Eyes Queen's Plate". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
16. "Classy 'n Smart Pedigree". Equineline. Retrieved 2018-03-12.

• Classy 'n Smart's pedigree and partial racing stats