The crossover between the breeds of racehorses in Canada can bring a lot of people and horses together, even years later.
Steve Curtis has been involved in Quarter Horse Racing at Ajax Downs for over eight seasons but one of his most memorable horses of his early life in racing was a Thoroughbred named Quiet Drama.
While working for trainer Howard Yanofsky, Steve met Quiet Drama, a daughter of Geiger Counter, when she was claimed from trainer Sam DiPasquale in 1992 by C Breeze Racing. Yanofsky took the filly from Woodbine to Philadelphia Park for the winter.
"We had raced her in an allowance race and she smoked," said Curtis. "Then she raced in a 'two other than and 'three other than' (allowance races) and she won those too."
Quiet Drama won a little stakes race, the New Hope, at Philly Park and then an overnight allowance (see photo) at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York in Feb. 1993.
"I fell in love with that filly," said Curtis, who started working at the racetrack in the mid 1980s at Fort Erie. "She had some issues but we did a lot of work with her. I have a lot of fond memories of her."
Quiet Drama raced until the end of 1994 before she was sold as a broodmare and was sent to Japan.
"It brought a tear to my eye when she got on that van."
In an interesting twist, Quiet Drama is a special horse to one of this year's leading Thorughbred owners, Mitch Kursner. Kurner, who won the Woodbine Oaks this year with Neshama, was a co-owner in C Breeze Racing,
Steve Curtis, who has his own business away from horses, has also driven Standardbreds and has learned a lot about Quarter Horses in his years at Ajax. There are 4 cards of racing left in this year's Ajax season.
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