by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Keystone Wallis, the paternal great-granddam of 2016 Horse of the Year Always B Miki, died over the weekend at her home of eight years with equine surgeon Dr. Patty Hogan, and her husband Ed Lohmeyer, in New Jersey. She was 31.

Patty Hogan photo

Keystone Wallis in the paddock she shared with Flat Foot Fluzy.

“We found her in the paddock at feeding this morning (Sunday, June 4) with her faithful friend, (Hall of Fame broodmare) Flat Foot Fluzy standing guard over her,” said Hogan. “Looks like it was peaceful — no signs of trauma or any struggle in the ground around her.”

She was the dam of 14 foals, including Neverhaveneverwill, dam of Always A Virgin, the sire of Always B Miki. Keystone Wallis had lived with Hogan since 2009, long before her great-grandson became a patient of Hogan’s for two different orthopedic surgeries.

Keystone Wallis won 18 races in 62 starts, including a heat of the Jugette, along with $618,256; she took a mark of 1:55.3f as a 2-year-old. She was trained by the late Jack Kopas for owners Trent Valley Stables.

Photo courtesy of Patty Hogan

Keystone Wallis on her arrival in New Jersey, with Dr. Patty Hogan (left) and Kate Miller (right).

She changed hands for the last time in the fall of 2009, at age 23, when she sold for $150 at public auction to Kate Miller, who’d seen her race in the Adioo Volo at The Meadows when Keystone Wallis was a 3-year-old and Miller was 6.

Not yet in first grade at the time, Miller couldn’t read a program, but she remembered the mare for her grey color and her post position — one. Two decades later, she recognized her name in a sales catalog and went for the specific purpose of buying her to ensure a safe home.

Miller was 26 then, but in no position to provide care for an older broodmare. Hogan read of their story and volunteered to care for Keystone Wallis at her home for the rest of her life. The mare forged a strong friendship with Lohmeyer’s mare Flat Foot Fluzy, now 30, and the two spent every day together until the end of Keystone Wallis’ life.