Jurgen and Monique Schemmer have raced and bred horses in the name of their Arosa Farms in King, Ontario for over two decades, transforming their business from a dressage and riding school business into a successful racing entity.
German-born Jurgen and Monique, from Switzerland, hit the highest level in Canadian racing when their filly Gandria won the Prince of Wales Stakes in 1992 over Queen’s Plate winner Woodcarver. It was during the 1990s that the Schemmers were flying high with their auction purchases and homebreds. One of those, Green Noble, a $75,000 purchase at the 1987 Kentucky, won over $200,000 and was a double stakes winner on the grass while trained by Emile Allain. Once retired, the daughter of Green Dancer – Hattab Voladora, by Dewan, produced 13 named foals for the Schemmers including the 2011 Outstanding Broodmare in Canada, Noble Strike.
Noble Strike, a foal of 1998, is the dam of 2011 champion three-year-old filly Inglorious, the Queen’s Plate and Woodbine Oaks winner, and the two-year-old stakes winner Dixie Strike, an early favourite for this year’s Plate. The mare had been a resident at Deborah Candiotti’s Rhianon Farms in Santa Rosa, California, having been sold for $180,000 as part of the Schemmer’s dispersal at Keeneland November in 2011.