‘This is a very sad day for everyone at Arrowfield’ – Champion mare Miss Finland dies aged 22
Arrowfield Stud’s revered matriarch Miss Finland (Redoute’s Choice) was humanely euthanised on Friday aged 22 after suffering complications from a chronic respiratory disease.
Owner John Messara confirmed veterinarians made the decision on Friday morning when the champion mare’s condition deteriorated.
“We gave her the best of veterinary care but she wasn’t responding as well as we hoped,” Messara said.
“Then she started to have some breathing difficulties and I told the vets to do what they could but not to let her suffer. She has been so good to us and I couldn’t bear to think she was suffering. This is a very sad day for everyone at Arrowfield because she has been such a special mare.”
Messara rated Miss Finland the best horse he has owned, reflecting on her extraordinary 2006 season which included victories in both the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) and VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m).
“A lot of people have been asking me to compare Autumn Glow with Miss Finland but I have to say, right now, Miss Finland has the superior race record,” Messara said.
“In time, Autumn Glow may very well prove to be the better horse but she has a bit to do to catch up with Miss Finland. I keep thinking about what she achieved in 2006 when she won the Golden Slipper over 1200 metres then later that year won the VRC Oaks at 2500 metres, which is a remarkable achievement.
“She was a champion racehorse and passed on those qualities at stud where she was a very good broodmare, producing a Group 1 winner, Stay With Me, who emulated her dam by winning the Thousand Guineas [in 2012].”
By Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) and trained by David Hayes, Miss Finland won 11 of her 26 starts, including ten stakes races, and earned more than $4.3 million in prize-money.
The only horse to complete the Golden Slipper-VRC Oaks double, she later added the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and Arrowfield Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Group 1 level and was crowned Australia’s Champion Two-Year-Old in 2006 and Champion Three-Year-Old in 2007.
At stud she produced 12 foals, highlighted by Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Stay With Me (Street Cry), with her final foal the unraced three-year-old Martha’s Choice (Dundeel) before being retired from breeding three years ago.