At a glance
- Status: In training
- Fill, Ontario-bred, foaled March 19, 2023
- By Signature Red out of Gemini
- Trainer: Kevin Attard
- Acquired as a yearling at the 2024 CTHS Premier Yearling Sale
Behind the name
The daughter of runaway slaves, Rose Fortune (1774 – 1864) came north with her parents among Black Loyalists to settle in Nova Scotia. Her business savvy and strength of character would later make her one of Annapolis Royal’s most notable figures during the first half of the 19th century.
Free to build her own life in Canada, Rose Fortune made the most of that opportunity. She started her own business in 1825, carting luggage in a wheelbarrow between the ferry docks and nearby homes and hotels. Her courage, trustworthiness, and constant presence on the waterfront led to her being entrusted with safeguarding property and maintaining order on the wharves.
Well before the existence of a professional police force and prior to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, the town made Rose Fortune its waterfront police officer. As the only person responsible for keeping law and order, she instituted and enforced rules and curfews that kept the streets safe day and night. This feat was made even more remarkable considering how rare it was for any woman to gain a position of authority.
Rose Fortune is thought to be the first female police officer on the American continent.
Defying barriers and prejudices, Fortune became a respected, prominent member of the community who developed two lucrative businesses. She also helped others to find freedom as part of the Underground Railroad, leading escaped enslaved people to safe locations once they reached the city.
Long a source of pride for Nova Scotians, the story of Rose Fortune epitomizes the perseverance of Black Loyalists who confronted prejudice and inequality to make a place for themselves in Canada. Residents of Annapolis Royal remember her with great affection as an iconic representative of their town and a determined keeper of order on the streets. A plaque on the Annapolis Royal waterfront commemorates her life and contribution to the province’s history. The Rose Fortune Gate in Bedford was named after her as is a ferry in the Bay of Fundy.
Fortune’s direct descendant, Daurene Lewis, became the first Black woman to be elected mayor of a Canadian city. She served for four years before becoming the first Black woman to run for the Nova Scotia Legislature after which she received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and the Order of Canada.
In 2018, the Government of Canada named Rose Fortune a National Historic Person.
About the sire
Kentucky-bred Signature Red was a multiple graded stakes winner who retired with a record of 6-6-7 in his 27 starts at Woodbine where he earned $649,884 under the tutelage of trainer Sid Attard.
As a 3-year-old, he went 1-3-3 in 8 starts. As a 4-year-old, Signature Red won the G2 Highlander Stakes over six furlongs on turf then won the same race again as a 5-year-old. A tough and versatile competitor, Signature Red was also stakes-placed on eight other occasions, notably in three renewals of the 6-furlong G3 Kennedy Road Stakes on the all-weather track in which he went 0-1-2 while registering eSpeeds of 100 and 110 (twice).
Signature Red was sired by Bernstein, a fast two-year-old who became one of the most successful sire sons of Storm Cat to stud in Canada. Adding speed and precocity to the mix, Storm Cat was sired by Northern Dancer while his dam was sired by the mighty Secretariat who was sired by Bold Ruler.
Bernstein also sired Kentucky-bred Tepin, a Hall of Fame inductee who earned $4,437,918 in 23 starts (13-5-1) and won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2015 along with two Eclipse Awards as Champion Grass Mare in 2015 and 2016.
As a stallion, Signature Red has punched above his weight since entering stud in 2013. Despite not having the luxury of large crops, he rose to become one of Canada’s leading sires in terms of black-type percentages and is the leading first, second and third-crop sire of his generation in Canada. From the 153 foals Signature Red has sired so far in nine crops of racing age, 102 were runners, 71 were winners, and 12 individuals became stakes winners. In 2024, 67% of Signature Red’s runners won races at an average winning distance of 6.04 furlongs.
About the dam
Virginia-bred Gemini was sired by Kentucky-bred Blame, a multiple graded stakes winner who went 9-2-2 in 13 starts, hitting 3-digit eSpeeds in nine contests and earning $4,378,214 on the track. Blame finished his racing career by finishing first in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic and winning an Eclipse Award that year as Champion Older Horse.
