Trot Insider has learned that millionaire pacing mare Yagonnakissmeornot has been retired from racing.
The eight-year-old distaffer earned 41 wins, 29 seconds and 10 thirds from 137 career starts while banking $1,517,507 in purses.
After being purchased for $110,000 at the 2014 Meadowlands January Mixed Sale, Yagonnakissmeornot earned over $1.2 million of her bankroll over the following three seasons racing for Allard Racing Inc. of Saint-Esprit, Que., Yves Sarrazin of La Presentation, Que., and Kapildeo Singh of Yorktown Heights, New York.
"We bought her hoping she'd be a good overnight horse," trainer Rene Allard told Trot Insider. "She just looked so good; she was tall, she was long, beautiful-gaited. Teagues had her before us and they did a tremendous job with her; she was in great shape when we got her. She had a little bit of a bleeding issue, we put her on Lasix and the rest is history. We just kind of lucked out, you know. She's a great mare to be around, she does everything right. It's bittersweet now; it's nice to see her go to the broodmare shed, but what are the chances of getting another one like her? "
Yagonnakissmeornot took her lifetime mark of 1:49.3 as a five-year-old in the Allerage Mares Open at The Red Mile.
She was a runner-up twice in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Final before winning the series title in 2016. During her aged career, the consistent and speedy mare set records at Yonkers Raceway (1:51.2 in a Fillies & Mares Open in 2015), Miami Valley Raceway (1:50.3 in the 2015 Chip Noble Memorial) and Scioto Downs (1:49.4 in the 2014 Eldorado Resorts Fillies & Mares Open).
Always a top contender while racing north of the border, she was a two-time Milton Stakes runner-up as well as a second-place finisher in the Roses Are Red Stakes and hit the board in the Ellamony.
Developed and campaigned by George Teague Jr. in her early years, she also enjoyed success in Canada winning the Blossom Series and finishing second in the Princess Series.
"She's so smart and so flawless," said Allard. "Her gait, she just covers so much ground so easy. And she'd get around a half as good as a big track. For a big, big horse like that...she'd get around Yonkers great, she'd get around any track...she was just so handy, she could leave, she could come from off the pace. She was two fingers to drive and so easy to handle, that's for sure."
Yagonnakissmeornot last raced on Dec. 9, 2016 at Woodbine Racetrack before her connections made the decision to retire her a bit earlier than originally planned.
"We raced her in the Breeders Crown this year [and] she was a little pinchy up front," explained Allard. "We thought she had a foot that was bothering her and she didn't race as good. She was not herself. We gave her a little time, she came back and she just wasn't herself. We raced her a couple of times in Toronto and I thought she got a little better, but then she just wasn't really herself.
"We took her to Dr. Ruch and he [found] something on her...we were planning on breeding her in the spring anyway. Our plan was to race her in Toronto for the winter and then breed her in the spring, but when we saw she wasn't 100 [percent] we decided we were just going to retire her. She's been so good to us, she's one of those horses...you don't get a lot like her in your life. I don't know if I'll ever have another one like her. She's been really good to us."
Sired by The Panderosa out of the Artsplace mare Artstopper, Yagonnakissmeornot is a half-sister to harness racing's fastest horse, Always B Miki. With plans to become a broodmare, she will be bred to Bettors Delight.
"Hopefully she produces something good for us; we're going to keep her and keep the babies out of her," said Allard. "The fact that she's a sister to the [U.S.] Horse of the Year [Always B Miki] and herself has a mark of 1:49 and a millionaire, she's the real deal that's for sure."
The retirement of Yagonnakissmeornot is bittersweet for Allard, who is looking to build his broodmare band and continue racing in Ontario. He currently has four pacers, including Yagonnakissmeornot, and two trotting mares with plans to breed five out of the six to Ontario sires in the spring.
"I'm only 30 years old, I'm looking to spend my life in this business," he said. "I have to look forward to the future; I believe Ontario has had a big turnaround the last few years...Things are going well and Woodbine is doing well also, I'm happy to be racing there."