nan's catch
Nan’s Catch, foaled on March 19, 1985, had all the makings of a star filly and the potential to be a great broodmare. Sired by Immortal Bonefish out of Nan Hanover by Speedy Count, she was bred by David and Fredericka Caldwell of Georgetown, Kentucky. When Nan’s Catch failed to sell as a yearling at the Tattersalls sale, she returned with her breeders - now owners - to Cane Run Farm in Kentucky. Soon after, they sent her to Continental Farms in Florida to train under Jan Johnson. It was the beginning of a bright career.
Nan’s Catch proved she was a star on the rise during her two-year-old season in 1987. The highlight of that year was her win in the $385,912 Breeders Crown. Honors also included a win in the fastest elimination of the Merrie Annabelle at the Meadowlands and a third-place finish in the final. She would also take victories in a division of the Arden Downs at The Meadows, an elimination of the International Stallion Stake at The Red Mile, and the Review at Springfield. She also won both heats of the Hayes Memorial at DuQuoin and, in the process, set a record with driver Berndt Lindstedt for two-year-old filly trotters in a two-heat race on a mile track with 1:57.1 and 1:56. Her two-year-old record stands at sixteen starts and eight wins, with earnings of $363,971.
In 1988 Nan’s Catch continued to live up to her potential. She was virtually unbeatable in her three-year-old season, winning eleven of thirteen starts with two second place finishes. She shone brightly with victories in the Hambletonian Oaks and World Trotting Derby filly division. She took her 1:54.4 mark in winning the first heat of the Review Stake at the Illinois State Fair, rightly earning the title of 1988 Three-Year-Old Filly Trotter. She retired with a lifetime record of 29-19-7-1 and total earnings of $766,074.
After her retirement from racing, Nan’s Catch began a successful breeding career. She was first bred to her former stablemate Armbro Goal 3,1:54.3 ($1,442,022) and produced Awesome Goal 2,1:57.3 ($105,095); however, it was her third foal that cemented her immortality. In 1993 she foaled Moni Maker 7,1:52.1 ($5,589,256), daughter of Immortal Speedy Crown 3,1:57.1 ($545,495). Moni Maker was the queen of international trotting in the late 1990s. She not only won the Hambletonian Oaks and Breeders Crown in North America, but she also endeared herself to European trotting devotees by winning the Elitlopp in Sweden and the Prix d’Amerique in France. In her final public performance, which occurred at The Red Mile, Lexington, Kentucky, ridden by Thoroughbred Hall of Fame Jockey Julie Krone, she lowered the record for trotters under saddle to 1:54.1. Moni Maker was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.
In all, Nan’s Catch produced ten registered foals with six starters, five of whom were under 2:00. Tragically her breeding career was cut short when she broke her leg while in foal. Nan’s Catch died at Cane Run Farm in January 2003 at the age of eighteen. She was inducted as an Immortal into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2008.
Published in the Harness Racing Museum's "The 2006-2009 Immortals" (2011)