Everybody who knew her called her Daisy.
Everybody else called her one of the best thoroughbred race horses Canada has produced.
Yesterday, 19-year-old Dance Smartly was euthanized after suffering an irreparable injury at Sam-Son Farm near Milton, Ont.
Farm employees found the horse lying down in her paddock last weekend, which was unusual because she didn't lie down very often. Suffering from an arthritic condition in her stifle (the joint at the end of the thigh, roughly corresponding to the human knee), it was difficult for her to get up.
"We spent some time with her until she decided it was time to get up," Sam-Son farm manager Dave Whitford said. "When she did get up, it was just obvious she had broken something in the stifle area. We don't know how it happened, but it was probably when she had laid down."
The stifle ailment originated in a paddock accident early in Dance Smartly's career as a broodmare when she had collided with another mare in a field.
In recent years, Sam-Son Farm had given her a paddock with only one other companion, another retired broodmare. Employees believe her stifle condition contributed to her injury.
Whitford said Dance Smartly had recently been bred to a young sire, Vindication, in the United States, but was not in foal at the time of her death.
She returned to Canada about six weeks ago.
Dance Smartly also did not get in foal last year, when bred a couple of times to an aging sire, Seeking the Gold.
"Definitely, we felt that she was coming to the end of her broodmare career, reproductively," he said. "With her stifle, she wasn't getting around too well."
Dance Smartly had nine foals, six of which raced and won. Some of them were exceptional.
Scatter the Gold, a big handsome colt with his mother's peel-me-a-grape attitude, won the $1-million Queen's Plate in 2000 - the first win of his career. He was on his way to becoming a Canadian Triple Crown winner when he fell short in the Breeders' Stakes and finished third.
Her dainty daughter Dancethruthedawn also followed her mother's footsteps in a battle of the sexes and put males to shame in the 2001 Queen's Plate and then won the Grade 1 Go For Wand Handicap at Saratoga as a four-year-old.
Dance Smartly's last foal is a two-year-old filly by Gone West named Dance to the Sea.
She's training in Florida and has not raced yet.
Dance Smartly's death has saddened the farm that celebrated her many triumphs.
"We do have a nice grave for her right out in front of the office, a very special place for her," Whitford said. "We'll be trying to make that area as nice as possible in the coming months."
The royally bred mare passed on her look-of-eagles attitude to her offspring, but was not a difficult personality.
"She had a lot of class," Whitford said. "There always seems to be an aura around special mares or racehorses like that. She had a lot of presence. There wasn't a mean bone in her body. She was just super to do anything with. Everybody loved her and anybody could handle her."
Tammy Samuel-Balaz, the president of Sam-Son Farm, said Dance Smartly was a once-in-a-lifetime horse.
"She was magic and gave us incredible thrills as both a racehorse and a broodmare," Samuel-Balaz said.
"While we were fortunate enough to have bred and owned her, she truly was Canada's horse."
Dance card
Dance Smartly's accomplishments:
First filly to win Canadian Triple Crown against males.
First Canadian-bred thoroughbred to win Breeders' Cup race - Distaff - in 1991.
When she retired from racing in 1992, she was richest filly or mare in thoroughbred history, with winnings of $3,263,836.
Won 12 of 17 starts.
Horse of year in Canada in 1991, when she was undefeated in eight starts.
Won Eclipse Award in United States in 1991, as champion three-year-old filly.
Inducted into Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Inducted into National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2003.
Produced back-to-back Queen's Plate winners, Scatter the Gold (2000) and Dancethruthedawn (2001).