Dawndee may have been the Appaloosa Horse Club’s first Hall of Fame working mom. The 1959 mare, by Buster D.S. and out foundation mare Sun-Up, carried several foals to term during her racing career and raced one season with her most famous suckling, fellow Racing Hall of Famer War Don, waiting in the barn. Dawndee’s owner and breeder, Glade Draper of Santoquine, Utah, started the mare on the track during her 2-year-old season without much success. He took her off the track to have her bred, then put the pregnant mare back to work at the races, and Dawndee became the first AAA-rated Appaloosa mare.
During her racing career, Dawndee earned a 17-9-5-2 record in ApHC-recognized races and collected $3,249.90 in purse money. The mare also held her own in match races against Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. She raced at various lengths including 250-yard sprints and 5 1/2-furlong distances. Her wins included a running championship at the 1963 National Show and a 640-yard world record at Brush, Colorado, in 1966.
Dawndee produced 11 foals during her lifetime including 1964 sprint colt champion War Don and Camee Dee, the mare who produced five-time Gold Cup Invitational Handicap winner Bold Concept. Seven of Dawndee’s foals made starts at the track and five went on to win. War Don became Dawndee’s only stakes winner, stakes placer and champion. Her foals together collected $12,490.36 in purse money.
Glade died in 1975 leaving Dawndee to his wife Isabel. Isabel retained ownership of the mare but sent her to stay with Jay Thompson of Hooper, Utah, then to Rex Garrett of Dillon, Colorado. Both men used Dawndee as a broodmare. In 1990, Isabel requested that the 31-year-old mare, whose health was failing, be humanely destroyed.
