Caren, a daughter of Society’s Chairman was named Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Filly at the annual Sovereign Awards ceremony on April 14 in Toronto.

Bred and sold by Shannondoe Farm, Caren began her career three romping victories including a win at first asking in a 4 ½-furlong maiden allowance sprint on June 6, 2015. It was the start of something special.

“You have to admire her guts and determination. She ran six times as a juvenile and won five of them. The one horse that beat us (Catch a Glimpse) went on to win at the Breeders’ Cup and was named Horse of the Year,” starts DePaulo. “She comes back last year and reeled off four wins in a row which is pretty impressive. There’s a lot of stakes races on her papers for a three-year-old filly.”

Caren was 2015 Sovereign Award finalist for both Two-Year-Old Filly and Female Sprinter.

Caren went winless in her first three starts last season, although the losses included solid runner-up efforts in the Lady Angela and Grade 3 Selene Stakes as well as a third in the Woodbine Oaks.  However, the trend was enough for some naysayers to suggest Caren couldn’t go a distance of ground.

But a win in the Bison City Stakes, second leg of the Triple Tiara for Canadian fillies, set off the four-race streak. Suddenly she could do no wrong winning the 1 ¼-mile Wonder Where Stakes to complete the Triple Tiara run and setting up a narrow nose score in the Grade 3 Ontario Colleen.

“We’ve asked her to do some tough things and she’s responded well,” said DePaulo. “She’s very special. I don’t know that many horses that have won from 4 ½-furlongs to a mile and a quarter. Generally speaking, you’re either a sprinter or a stayer and 4 ½-furlongs is awful short.”

Caren posted the fourth and final win of her Horse of the Year campaign with a front-running tour de force in the Carotene Stakes. Jockey Jesse Campbell sat still as could be in the saddle and eased Caren into an easy lead in the 1 1/8-mile turf tilt. The veteran rider used only his hands and heels down the lane as rivals lined up to take their shot, but no one could touch the star filly and an emotional Campbell tossed his whip over the rail as something of a ‘mic drop’ celebration.

It was a telling moment for all involved with the feisty Caren. Don’t fight with her, you can’t win.  Just let her run and she’ll give you all she’s got.

“She’s a pill to deal with,” says Campbell. “But she’s got something a lot of other racehorses don’t and that’s heart.”

Caren has won nine of her 15 starts, eight of them stakes victories, and amassed a bankroll of of $810,196.

-edited from http://www.woodbineentertainment.com