amour angus
Considered today as one of the breed's elite broodmares, Amour Angus was not always so renowned. She was foaled in 1987 at Pierre Levesque's Fermes Angus Farms in Bedford, Quebec. Her first season opened in 1989 and was highlighted by winning a Quebec Sires Stake at Blue Bonnets. Although her two-year-old season left hope for improvement, by the end of the next season Amour Angus was retired with a record of 16-5-4-3 and total earnings of $21,355.
Her breeding career began almost immediately when she was paired with Quebec stallion Garland Lobell 3,1:55.3($345,689). Her first foal, in 1992, was the filly Emilie Cas El 2,1:57.1f ($245,199) who quickly proved herself as a star race-filly. Not only did she close her two-year-old season with a 13-13-0-0 record and earnings of $161,569, she was named 1994 Horse of the Year by winning Standardbred Canada's prestigious O'Brien Award. She also received its Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year award.
The match between Amour Angus and Garland Lobell was considered to be so advantageous they were paired eleven more times in the next twelve years. Three of the foals produced during those matings were the lead-ing sires Conway Hall 3,1:53.4 ($818,884) in 1995, Angus Hall 3,1:54.3 ($830,654) in 1996, and Andover Hall 3,1:51.3 ($870,510) foaled in 1999. Conway Hall has 989 registered foals, 608 starters with a total of over $36 million in earnings and 111 $100,000 winners. Of Angus Hall's 1,096 registered foals, 672 have raced with over $45 million in earnings and 121 are $100,000 winners. Andover Hall, the youngest brother of the three, has sired the fewest number of foals but makes up for this lack of quantity with unbridled quality. Not only has he sired millionaires Pampered Princess 3,1:53 ($1,648,362) and Adrian Chip 3,1:54.2 ($1,124,584), but he is also responsible for Donato Hanover 3,1:50.1 (almost $3 million), the 2007 Hambletonian winner, 2007 Horse of the Year, and co-holder - with Giant Diablo - of the all-time fastest trotting mile, 1:50.1.
Amour Angus was owned by Walnut Hall Limited of Lexington, KY. Walnut Hall's president and general manager, Alan Leavitt, told Hoof Beats magazine: "If you were doing a movie and asked for the most perfect Standardbred specimen, Central Casting would send you Amour Angus ... She has a beautiful head, sharp eye and nice ears. She is perfectly proportioned. She is easy to work with, sensible and pleasant with the other mares, too." Amour Angus' influence on the harness racing world was undeniable. She produced fourteen foals, nine colts and five fillies before dying at Walnut Hall on January18, 2009. She was 22 years old.
Published in the Harness Racing Museum's 2006-2009 IMMORTALS