Ms. Eloise, Grade 1 winner, dead

Margaret Grimm's Grade 1 winner Ms. Eloise, dam of Grade 3 winner Bibury Court and five other stakes performers, died of natural causes at Loch Ness Farm in Paris, Ky., on Sept. 12. The Nasty and Bold mare was 20.

Ms. Eloise had an illustrious career at the races, winning the Grade 1 Top Flight and Shuvee handicaps among six other stakes, and earning more than $870,000. She won or placed in Grade 1 company five times in a career that spanned four racing seasons.

Ms. Eloise proved her worth as a broodmare immediately when her first foal, the Dixieland Band colt Daybreak Express, became a stakes-placed runner. That proved to be no fluke, as her next three foals also went on to earn black type. Bibury Court, a 1991 Ferdinand colt, raced until he was 6, winning the Grade 3 Alysheba Stakes and earning more than $300,000. Her 1992 foal, Ms. Isadora, a Miswaki filly, was graded stakes placed, and the 1993 Chief's Crown filly Princess Eloise became a stakes winner.

Ms. Eloise also is the dam of stakes-placed runners Sweet Eloise (Sky Classic) and Chuckler (Miswaki).

"It was nice to see a good racemare become an excellent producer," said Nina Hahn, owner of Loch Ness Farm. "Several of her daughters are now producing, so the family will be around for a long time."

Ms. Eloise was carrying a Royal Academy foal at the time of her death. Her last foal, a yearling Chester House filly, went through the Keeneland September sale ring but was unsold at $85,000. Grimm plans to race her, Hahn said.