Queen's Plate Winner Sir Dudley Digges Arrives at Signature Equestrian

Candice Rainey, owned of Signature Equestrian in Stayner, ON, has purchased 2016 Queen’s Plate winner SIR DUDLEY DIGGES and the stallion will be available to breeders for 2022.

Rainey has owned and operated two farms as part of Signature Equestrian for seven years and offers breeding, sales, lessons, camps, and horses from there compete on the Trillium Silver series and “A” circuit.

“One farm is for my young, pregnant, or retired horses and the other is my show horses, lesson horses and stallions,” said Rainey. “I have three mares I purchased a year and a half ago, two from the track and the other had been competing in the jumpers long before I bought her. One is expecting an appendix foal any day now.”

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Rainey saw a sale listing earlier this week for Sir Dudley Digges (Gio Ponti – My Pal Lana by Kris S.) who was being offered for $5,000.

The dark bay has been well traveled in his life. Bred by Bernard and Karen McCormack in Port Perry, Sir Dudley Digges was a $72,000 weanling purchase at the 2013 Keeneland November sale. He was sold in 2014 for $110,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale and in 2015 was bought by Ken and Sarah Ramsey for $130,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales June Horses of Racing Age sale.

The colt was trained by Mike Maker and he won his maiden in his seventh race at Keeneland as a 3-year-old in April 2016. From there, Sir Dudley Digges improved quickly, finishing third in the Plate Trial at Woodbine before upsetting the $1 million, 1 1/4 mile Plate at 15 to 1, edging eventual champion Amis Gizmo.

After not handling dirt in the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, Sir Dudley Digges was a close second in the Breeders’ Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

In 2017, Sir Dudley Digges won four races in the U.S. including the Old Friends Stakes at Kentucky Downs, which won the colt a free residency at the Old Friends Racehorse Retirement home in Kentucky.

The Ramseys sent Sir Dudley Digges to Barbados for the 2018 Sandy Lane Gold Cup and watched the horse win that country’s biggest race. Upon returning to North America, Sir Dudley Digges went winless in nine subsequent races although he was stakes placed several times.

The Ramseys sold Sir Dudley Digges at the 2020 Keeneland November sale and he was bought for $6,700 (US) by Cole Bennett, who brought the horse back to Ontario where he was advertised for stud duty. Bennett also rode the gentle stallion before making the tough decision to sell him.

Rainey is excited to have Sir Dudley Digges, who will also continue to be ridden in hunter and jumper events as well as breeding.

“He is quite a gentleman,” said Rainey.

Sir Dudley Digges earned $939,690 (over $1 million in Canadian) from seven wins in 32 starts.