BROWN BESS (*Petrone), the champion turf female of 1989, was euthanized on
July 15 due to complications from colic. News of the 29-year-old’s death was
reported by the Thoroughbred Times over the weekend.
Bred and campaigned by Suzanna Pashayan’s Calbourne Farm, Brown Bess raced
exclusively in her native California throughout her 36-race career. She was also
one of the few Eclipse Award winners to have been based in Northern California.
A late bloomer who made just one start at three and did not break her maiden
until July of her four-year-old season, Brown Bess maintained a relatively low
profile nationally until the autumn of 1988. Having won several minor stakes
earlier that year on her home circuit, Brown Bess successfully entered the
graded ranks with back-to-back victories in the California Jockey Club H. (G3)
and Hillsborough H. (G3), both at Bay Meadows, to conclude her campaign.
Brown Bess would extend her influence to Southern California beginning in
1989 at the ripe age of seven. After three early-season setbacks on dirt, Brown
Bess would be defeated only once in her final six races — all on grass — of
the year. Her first victories occurred at Golden Gate Fields, in the Countess
Fager H. (G3) and Yerba Buena H. (G3), but she was only third, beaten 2 1/4
lengths, when facing males in the Golden Gate H. (G2).
Next came a rare visit to the southern part of the Golden State for Del Mar’s
Ramona H. (G1). Brown Bess prevailed by a neck in that nine-furlong test at 5-1,
and she followed that up with a repeat victory in the California Jockey Club H.
at Bay Meadows.
Brown Bess’ championship was sealed in the Yellow Ribbon Invitational (G1) at
Santa Anita, a race which before the advent of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare
Turf (G1) carried significant Eclipse Award implications. Favored for the race
and divisional honors entering the Yellow Ribbon was the Charlie
Whittingham-trained Claire Marine (Ire), but Brown Bess handily dispatched that
rival winning the Yellow Ribbon by 1 3/4 lengths. Claire Marine, who had
previously won the Beverly D. S. and later won the Matriarch S. (G1), finished
fifth.
Brown Bess was not as dominant in 1990. After a neck loss in the Santa Ana H.
(G1), she prevailed by a nose in the Santa Barbara H. (G1). However, she lost
her final four starts, failing to defend her titles in the Yerba Buena, Ramona
and California Jockey Club, and finishing fourth in the Golden Gate H. Her
career ended with a mark of 36-16-8-6, $1,300,920.
Trained by Chuck Jenda and ridden to most of her major wins by “Cowboy” Jack
Kaenel, Brown Bess eventually produced seven offspring, only four of which made
it to the races. The only winner among the quartet was her first, the Al Mamoon
colt Brownie.
Physically small at about 15 hands and approximately 850 pounds, Brown Bess
was produced by the multiple stakes-placed Chickadee (Windy Sands). Brown Bess’
fourth dam was the Hall-of-Fame filly Princess Doreen (*Spanish Prince II), and
this female family was also responsible for Triple Crown winner Sir Barton
(*Star Shoot) and his noted half-brother Sir Martin (*Ogden), the leading
money-winning juvenile colt of 1908 in the U.S. and winner of the 1910
Coronation Cup in England.
Brown Bess was buried at Harris Farms near Coalinga, California, where she
had resided the last several years.