Shauna Ferguson, trainer and part owner of Longacres Mile Handicap (gr. III) winner Kid Katabatic, died Monday after a riding accident at Keenebridge Farm in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Ferguson, survived by her husband Keith, was 58.
A trainer and owner for over 30 years, Ferguson made headlines in 1997 when Kid Katabatic went wire-to-wire in the Longacres Mile in track-record time under Chris Loseth at Emerald Downs. Winner of five stakes at Emerald, 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 racing in 1971 as a groom for trainer Allen May. The following year, Loseth joined May’s shed row, and he and Ferguson became lifelong friends.
“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.
