Matt's Scooter (1985 – June 30, 2014) was a

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

pacer and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

who was named

Harness Horse of the Year The Harness Horse of the Year is an honor recognizing the top harness racing horse in the United States. The award is selected by the United States Trotting Association and the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), which issues the an ...

in 1989. Matt's Scooter competed as a pacer in

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

, winning the

Meadowlands Pace The Meadowlands Pace is a harness race for three-year-old pacers, held at the Meadowlands Racetrack, in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is the richest pacing race in the United States at $738,550 and second richest p ...

, Prix d'Été, Confederation Cup,

Messenger Stakes The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York (on suburban Long Island) to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create ...

, American National Stakes,

Breeders Crown The Breeders Crown is an annual series of Harness races in the United States and Canada covering each of the sport's twelve traditional categories of age, gait and gender. The series was initiated by the Hambletonian Society, promoters of the Ham ...

, Driscoll Series, Mohawk Gold Cup, he was named Pacer of the Year in 1988 and 1989, and

in 1989 by the United States Harness Association.

Background

Matt's Scooter was a bay

ridgeling A ridgling (also spelled ridgeling), or rig, is a cryptorchid; a male animal with one or both testicles undescended, usually describing a ram, bull, or male horse, but cryptorchidism also can be an issue in dogs and cats. Because the heat inside t ...

bred by Max Gerson of New York. He was sired by Direct Scooter out of Ellen's Glory by

Meadow Skipper Meadow Skipper (May 8, 1960 – 1982) was a Standardbred racehorse and sire. He earned $428,057 as a racehorse. Background Meadow Skipper was a brown horse foaled in 1960 by Dale Frost out of the U. S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame mare Coun ...

. As a

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

, he was bought for $17,500 by Gordon and Illa Rumpel of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, and Charles Juravinski. He was trained by Harry Poulton at his base near

Lake Scugog Lake Scugog is an artificially flooded lake in Scugog, Regional Municipality of Durham and the unitary city of Kawartha Lakes in central Ontario, Canada. It lies between the communities of Port Perry and Lindsay. The lake has been raised and l ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Racing career

As two-year-old, Matt's Scooter was given a relatively light campaign winning three of his nine races. He was not an easy horse to handle: Poulton described him as "always bucking, kicking or doing something... he wanted to do everything 100 miles an hour". In 1988, despite being ineligible for the

Cane Pace The Cane Pace is a harness horse race for standardbred pacers run annually since 1955. The race was first run as the William H. Cane Futurity in 1955 at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Mess ...

and the Little Brown Jug, Matt's Scooter earned $1.78 million winning eleven of his twenty two races. His major victories included the Meadowlands Pace and the Messenger Stakes. In Autumn 1988, he paced a mile in 1:48.2 at the

Red Mile The Red Mile is the name given to a stretch of 17 Avenue SW in Calgary, Alberta, Canada during the Calgary Flames 2004 Stanley Cup playoff run, which ended with a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in the finals. It gained worldwide ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, lowering the world record previously held by

Niatross Niatross (1977–1999) was an American champion standardbred race horse that many believe was the greatest harness horse of all time. Background The son of Albatross out of the mare Niagara Dream, Niatross was foaled on March 30, 1977. He wa ...

, by four-fifths of a second. As a four-year-old he won 23 of his thirty races and earned $1.14 million.

Honors and awards

Matt's Scooter was named Pacer of the Year and best three-year-old in 1988. In the following year, he was again named best pacer and was awarded the title of Harness Horse of the Year. Matt's Scooter was inducted into the

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The H ...

and the United States Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.

Retirement and stud career

He was retired from racing after 4 years, and stood as a breeding stallion for Perretti Farms in

Cream Ridge, New Jersey Cream Ridge is an unincorporated community located within Upper Freehold Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The rural area is made up of farmland, on which are located many horse farms. Numerous small business line with Cou ...

. He was pensioned from stud duty in 2011. Bob Marks of Perretti Farms said "His libido is willing, but with his hind suspensory, we're afraid he could hurt himself". Matt's Scooter was

euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

at Mid-Atlantic Equine Clinic in

Ringoes, New Jersey Ringoes is an unincorporated community located within East Amwell Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The community is served by the United States Postal Service as ZIP Code 08551 and as of the 2010 United States Census, ...

on June 30, 2014.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 1985 racehorse births 2014 racehorse deaths American Standardbred racehorses American Champion harness horses Harness Horse of the Year winners Harness racing in Canada Harness racing in the United States Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees Messenger Stakes winners