Shauna Ferguson, trainer and part owner of Longacres Mile winner Kid Katabatic, died Monday afternoon after a riding accident at Keenebridge Farm in Langley, B.C, Canada. Ferguson, survived by her husband Keith Ferguson, passed away at 58-years-old.
A trainer and owner for over 30 years, Ferguson made headlines in 1997, when her homebred Kid Katabatic went wire-to-wire to capture the Longacres Mile (GIII). Winner of five stakes races at Emerald Downs, Kid Katabatic still holds the state record for the fastest 1-1/16-miles, with a winning time of 1:39 3/5 in the 1998 Budweiser Handicap.
Ferguson, who took out her trainer’s license in the late 70s, started in horseracing in 1971 as a groom for trainer Allen May. The following year, Chris Loseth joined May’s shed row and he and Ferguson became lifelong friends. In fact, it was Loseth that rode Kid Katabatic for most of the gelding’s illustrious career, including the Mile score. Loseth said Ferguson would be missed.
“She was a great horsewoman that really cared for her horses,” Loseth said. “She probably cared as much about horses as she did people.”
Memorial services are pending.