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 from
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
best known for his Australasian record winning sequence of 29 races from his first start as a two-year-old until his defeat by Michael Frost during the 1981 Interdominion series in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
,
Tasmania
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, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
. He also won three consecutive
Australian Harness Horse of the Year The Australian Harness Horse of the Year is an honour that recognises the top harness racing horse in the Australia. The award is selected by industry people and media representatives.
The inaugural award was won in 1976 by Don't Retreat, a New So ...
awards.
Racing career
San Simeon began his racing career on 11 November 1978 at Bunbury, 175 kilometres south of Perth. He immediately began his 29 race winning sequence by winning all 10 starts as a two-year-old including the WA Golden Slipper and WA Champagne Stakes. He was voted Australian two-year-old (2yo) of the year for 1978/9, and the $50,162 he earned that season was a new Australian record for a horse of his age.
As a three-year-old San Simeon raced only six times but recorded a win at each start. He defeated Victorian visitor
Gammalite
Gammalite (1976 – 21 December 2006) was an Australian bred Standardbred racehorse who was the first Standardbred to win A$1 million in Australia. He was regarded as one of Australia's most successful pacers with 16 Group one wins.Gloucester Park in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. San Simeon was voted Australian 3yo of the year and his record now stood at 16 wins from 16 starts.
San Simeon began the 1980/1 season with a win at Harvey on 13 September. On 5 December 1980 he equalled the Australasian record winning streak of 24 wins held by
Maori's Idol
Maori's Idol (1 September 1972 – 20 October 2006) was an Australian Standardbred racehorse. He was the first Australian trotter to break two minutes with a time of 1:59.3 on 19 November 1977 at Moonee Valley. Maori's Idol became one of Au ...
and
Lucky Creed
Lucky may refer to:
*An adjective of luck
Lucky may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' Lucky: No Time for Love'', a 2005 Hindi-language romance starring Salman Khan, Sneha Ullal, and Mithun Chakraborty
* ''Lucky'', a 2005 short film by Av ...
by winning at Fremantle. He then set a new record of 25 wins on 12 December by winning the WA 4yo Classic. San Simeon then raced against the top open class horses for the first time in the
Western Australian Pacing Cup
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
* Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
series. As a relatively inexperienced four-year-old he was well handicapped with established stars
Koala King
Koala King was a former champion Australian Standardbred pacing horse of the 1970s and 80s who won a host of Australasian Pacers Grand Circuit and feature races including the 1980 Inter Dominion Pacing Championship at Harold Park Paceway and t ...
and Satinover giving him starts of 20 metres and 15m respectively. After winning both his heats he won the final on 2 January 1981 defeating King Carramar and Local Mark.
The
Inter Dominion
:''for winners of the Inter Dominion see: Inter Dominion Pacing Championship and Inter Dominion Trotting Championship''
The Inter Dominion is a harness racing competition that has been contested since 1936 in Australia and New Zealand.
It is ...
was held in Hobart for the first time and the relatively small circumference of the showgrounds circuit and handicap conditions may have contributed to the non-appearance of Satinover, Locarno, Delightful Lady and
Gammalite
Gammalite (1976 – 21 December 2006) was an Australian bred Standardbred racehorse who was the first Standardbred to win A$1 million in Australia. He was regarded as one of Australia's most successful pacers with 16 Group one wins.Koala King
Koala King was a former champion Australian Standardbred pacing horse of the 1970s and 80s who won a host of Australasian Pacers Grand Circuit and feature races including the 1980 Inter Dominion Pacing Championship at Harold Park Paceway and t ...
, the previous winner, was injured. San Simeon won the slowest of three one mile heats on the first night to extend his sequence to 29 but the record went no further after he was defeated by Michael Frost on night two. "Very, very relieved"''Australian Harness Racing Greats'', Stanza Productions said trainer-driver Lou Austin regarding the defeat. After a third night win he was much too good for Single Again and Ardstraw in the final winning by 10 metres in track record time. Veteran
Pure Steel
Pure Steel is the only pacer to win the A G Hunter Cup, a race over 3,050 metres and the richest handicap race for pacers in the world, three times, in 1977, 1978, and 1980. He was the first Standardbred horse to win A$500,000 in Australia. ...
, competing in an Interdominion for the fifth time, finished fourth after conceding the winner 15m under the handicap conditions. He was voted Australian Harness Horse of the Year for season 1980/1 and was also Australian Grand Circuit Champion.
Following the Interdominion win San Simeon was invited to take part in a World Cup series at The Meadowlands in the United States during 1982. He won two races at Gloucester Park later in 1981 before heading overseas. In America San Simeon failed to win in three starts and returned home to Western Australia. He made two further starts in 1983 without winning and was retired to stud. During his career he also won the WA 4&5yo Championship twice and the 2yo leg of the WA Triple Crown.
Major honours
* 1980 Western Australian Derby
* 1980 Australian Derby
* 1981
Western Australian Pacing Cup
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
* Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
* 1981 Interdominion
* 1980/1 Australian Harness Horse of the Year
* 1978/79 Australian 2yo of the Year
* 1979/80 Australian 3yo of the Year
See also
*
Harness racing in Australia
Harness racing, also colloquially known as trotting or the trots, is a spectator sport in Australia, with significant amounts of money wagered annually with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). In Australia there are 90 harness ra ...