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.
However, following foaling not long before the Sovereign Awards, Noble Strike died. ‘We were very fortunate to have her, she was a great mare,’ said Candiotti. ‘She gave us a beautiful filly and gave racing fans lots of good memories.’
Noble Strike, by Canadian-bred Smart Strike was trained by Josie Carroll, who would later guide Inglorious to her championship season. Carroll has said that Noble Strike was a somewhat feisty gal as a racehorse but still, she went out to win three of her 18 races including the Belle Geste Stakes and place second in the Wonder Where Stakes and third in the Jammed Lovelyin 2001.
As a broodmare, Noble Strike got off a good start as she produced the promising colt Sebastien’s Song, a Cherokee Run offspring who brought a hefty $200,000 at the 2006 C.T.H.S. Ontario yearling sale from bidder Centennial Farms (Niagara) Inc. Sebastian’s Song was third in the 2006 Plate Trial Stakes and earned over $164,000 before he was retired. Noble Strike’s next two foals were unraced and Inglorious, a daughter of Hennessy, followed.
Purchased for $90,000 as a yearling by Vern and Donna Dubinsky’s Donver Stable at the Ontario sale, Inglorious showed promise early in her career, going undefeated in two races, both stakes events. Described as a lot more laid back than her dam, Inglorious surged to the top of the three-year-old ranks in 2011, beating the best of the boys and girls in her pair of big wins.
Dixie Strike, a $45,000 Ontario sale yearling purchase by John Oxley, was similarly precocious, winning the Ontario Lassie Stakes as a juvenile. Trained by Mark Casse, the daughter of Dixie Union won the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs early in 2012 and was installed the early Plate winterbook favourite by Daily Racing Form and Woodbine media. Noble Strike was barren to Sky Mesa the year after producing Dixie Strike and her Hard Spun offspring of 2011 died.
Noble Strike’s legacy will no doubt live on through Inglorious and Dixie Strike, both of whom are expected to among the best for 2012.
