by Matthew Lomon

Heart is what kept Ladies From Hell in rhythm, even when hers wasn’t.

The 11-year-old mare with an indomitable spirit has taken her owners, Michael and Shae Sumner, on the most rewarding and improbable of journeys since being claimed by the father-and-daughter duo in the fall of 2021.

While not without its fair share of obstacles, none of which too daunting for the stouthearted trio to overcome, the winding path to prosperity has all been worthwhile.

On Feb. 22, following a remarkable 10-year-old campaign that saw her collect 11 wins and well north of $60,000 in earnings across 28 starts at The Raceway at Western Fair in 2024 (11-6-3), Ladies From Hell was recognized with the distinction of top Older Pacing Mare at the half-mile oval’s annual Awards Night.

A feat, Michael said, wouldn’t have been possible without Shae.

“It’s cool to be recognized, but the credit goes to my daughter,” Michael said. “I hadn’t been to the awards ceremonies in quite a few years, but I was begged to go with her, and she was really looking forward to it because she loves this game and this horse.

“’Lady’ [Ladies From Hell] turned it on in the fall to win that award because it wasn’t easy. There were a bunch of mares with some good money made. It shows a lot about the effort that Shae put into her. She brought this mare from a claimer to an open horse. Shae’s a good trainer herself. I can’t take any credit for anything.”

Shae’s steadfast belief in the daughter of Classic Card Shark—Jennys Place was at first a mystery to her father, who didn’t understand what she saw in the war horse from Western Canada.

“I didn’t like her,” Michael said with a laugh. “My daughter picked her out. She said, ‘Dad, have a look at her. I think she’s a better horse than you think. She’s got some back class.’”

Michael slowly started to come around.

“That night, I was running back replays in my room,” he said. “I pulled up her lines, and this mare was in a $4,500 claimer at Fraser Downs [in British Columbia] when she was young. She was in six claimers, but she also worked her way into the open before she left Fraser. Then she came to Ontario, and performed alright, but petered back down into an eight or 10.

“Still, I thought, ‘You know what? She’s right, this mare does have some back class. We’ll claim her to have a horse fill a stall.’”

On the day he claimed Ladies From Hell, Michael also purchased another horse. He advised Shae, who wanted to buy a stake in half of one, to look in the other direction.

But Shae stood by her evaluation and took 50 per cent ownership of the well-traveled mare.

Michael had never been happier to be proven wrong.

“I made about $2,000 with the other horse and sold at a loss,” he said. “Lady’s made about $150,000 for us.”

That already impressive figure would almost certainly be even larger had Ladies From Hell not missed nearly all of 2023.

The culprit? Atrial fibrillation, or in layman’s terms, an irregular heartbeat, caused by an electrolyte imbalance.

The root of the ailment, as Michael described, traced back to the way in which the electrolytes were administered.

Instead of “jugging” or “sticking” her with intravenous [IV] treatments after each race, Michael supplied oral electrolytes to lessen the burden on Ladies From Hell.

“She’s a fantastic eater but you can’t regulate how much water they’ll take in,” he said. “Basically, she was getting too many electrolytes in her stomach, and it was pulling the fluids out of her other organs and dehydrated her.

“It was my fault, trying to be easier and not poking needles in her. She doesn’t have a heart issue. She doesn’t have a bad heart. If she did, I never would have raced her again. It just was a situation where it put her heart out of rhythm, and she wouldn’t reset.”

Thus began the process, or “debacle” as Michael recounted, of recalibrating her heart.

Following the initial incident, which occurred on Boxing Day in 2023, the Sumners took Ladies From Hell to a clinic to receive doses of quinidine.

The Class IA antiarrhythmic agent is used to treat heart rhythm disturbances.

At the time, however, the clinic did not have enough quinidine to supply the proper dosage, and finding more at the height of the holiday season was simply not feasible.

What should have been the debacle’s denouement, was instead its prolonged opening act.

“We brought her back home, and I decided to call Guelph to put her on the box and it became a debacle,” Michael said. “I called them 70 times. They didn’t have the guy in. The technicians weren’t there. Then they said the machine was broken. Then they said it was fixed. Then they said bring her down Friday. Then they said, don’t, the box is still broken.

“Two weeks after that, I called them and then they said bring her down. I brought her down. They shaved her up, got her on the operating table, and the box wouldn’t work to electrically get her heart back in rhythm.”

December turned to January, January to February, and February to March.

Desperately in search of answers, Michael took the onus upon himself. He offered to pay the $2,000 for a new box but that didn’t move the needle, either.

As their faith began to wane, Michael and Shae were ready to accept what felt like the inevitable – Ladies From Hell’s racing days were over. They very well believed it, too, having engaged in conversations with several prospective breeders.

Then came a glimmer of hope.

During an April conversation with one of his vets, Dr. Stan Henderson, Michael found the answers that had been so elusive to him and his daughter for almost five months.

It was here that Henderson, the owner of Henderson Equine Services and 2008 Ontario Veterinary Medical Association’s Veterinarian of the Year, offered to conduct the procedure for half the price.

After months of waffling and uncertainty, Ladies From Hell’s heart was back in rhythm.

That, however, was only half the battle. Next up: a return to racing.

“By then it was summer, so we took it nice and easy in the heat,” he said. “We qualified her in October, and I said to Shae, ‘She’ll never be the same, open type of horse again.’”

Once again, Michael was overjoyed to be proven wrong.

“She’s just gotten better and better,” he said. “When she put it all together, man, we’re shocked, we’re absolutely amazed. She makes me shake my head with some of the miles she’s gone against the quality of horses that have been on her back.

“We expected nothing. We didn’t expect her to ever come back, and then when she did, we’re stunned that she’s the best she’s ever been in her life, by far, at 11.”

Since the procedure, Ladies From Hell has collected almost $100,000 in prize money for the Sumners.

As it would be, her finest outing came almost one year to the day after the AFib ordeal began.

Slotted into post 4 on Monday (Dec. 23) at Western Fair, Ladies From Hell, against the backdrop of heavy snowfall, sped off to a dazzling 12-length triumph.

“She beat good horses that night,” Michael said. “They canceled the races one race after. That’s how bad the track was. She went in :57.1 that night; it was an absolute snowstorm, and the track ate it, no one could get over it, and she just paced away from good horses.

“The paddock was buzzing over that one pretty good.”

The resilient racer has shown no signs of slowing down in 2025.

With five wins, one second, and two thirds from 10 starts, Ladies From Hell has already reeled in more than $37,000.

For her career, the venerable bay sports a 51-43-34 line through 211 starts and has banked over $332,000.

Not too shabby for an 11-year-old, $8,500 claimer ($10,625 with mares allowance) whose career was supposed to be over 15 months ago.

Ladies From Hell’s vibrant, youthful spirit continues to light up the Sumner’s stable.

“She loves to go out to the field every day,” Michael said. “She loves to jump. She sits there driving you nuts. She paws holes in her rubber mats in front of her stall, with her tongue all out the side, waiting to get treats or waiting to eat.

“I’d love to have four or five of her.”

Finding another Ladies From Hell, let alone four or five, could take a lifetime. So, for now, Michael and Shae will focus on cherishing the one they have.

“This mare has carried us,” he said. “I couldn’t have imagined she’d be this kind of horse. Even before she had her heart issue, she was not as good as she is right now. It’s unbelievable.

“She makes you look good, and we’re incredibly grateful.”