VALLEY VICTORY OWES HIS LEGACY TO SPEEDY SOMOLLI

This is the first of a two-part series on the link between Speedy Somolli and his grandson Valley Victory. The second installment will appear next week.

He first emerged on the scene as a two-year-old in 1977, setting world records and earning the praise of all who saw him race. In between his two-and-three-year-old seasons, he was syndicated for $2 million, then won the Hambletonian and Yonkers Futurity at three, setting numerous world records in the process. As a sire, he has founded his own branch of a leading siring family that was destined to change the face of world trotting in a way no one could have imagined. As a broodmare sire, his daughters have produced three of the most gifted trotters in history.

The horse that fits this description is Speedy Somolli, the now 24-year-old stallion in the final stages of a career that has seen him alter the way we think about trotters. The details of his life and success are a fascinating tale.

SPEEDY SOMOLLI HAD RARE SPEED

Speedy Somolli was as fast a trotter as ever lived. Anyone who ever saw him showcase his true talents would testify that he was, indeed, one of the most gifted and naturally-talented horses to ever grace a racing oval. A son of Speedy Crown, and from the Star’s Pride mare Somolli, Speedy Somolli, was a member of his great sire’s second crop. He was the first and best indication about what we might expect from Speedy Crown as a sire. It seems incongruous now, but there were at one time serious doubts about Speedy Crown's ability as a sire. His first crop did not contain a good trotter. In fact, the only 2:00 horse in his first crop was a pacer. But Speedy Somolli would change all that, though.

In truth, Speedy Somolli took after his Star’s Pride dam, Somolli, in his physical appearance much more than he did his sire. Speedy Somolli is a smallish, slight, compactly-built horse, very atypical of most of Speedy Crown’s successful racing sons. He is a refined, elegant little horse very much unlike the coarse, unattractive Prakas, or the ruggedly handsome Armbro Goal. What he shared with those horses, however, was that all were from Star’s Pride dams. Speedy Crown is, therefore, yet another example of a successful horse whose siring career followed, in historical terms, the domination of the previous era by another horse, and whose own success was based on the availability of mares by that stallion. Star’s Pride, of course, was the dominant sire who pre-dated Speedy Crown’s era, and it was with Star’s Pride mares that Speedy Crown found his greatest success.

SPEEDY SOMOLLI BECAME THE FASTEST TWO YEAR OLD IN HISTORY, BUT NEVER MADE THE RECORD BOOKS

Speedy Somolli was bred by the late Robert Mumma, a Pennsylvania breeder who was a client of trainer-driver Howard Beissinger. It was Beissinger who trained and drove Speedy Crown, and who provided the mating with Speedy Crown for Somolli that produced Speedy Somolli. Beissinger also broke, trained and developed the colt for Mumma. As a two-year-old, Speedy Somolli became the fastest two-year-old trotter in history, circling the spacious mile oval at Du Quoin in 1:57 2-5, winning the first heat of the Castleton Farm stake, a longtime mainstay of the Du Quoin Grand Circuit meeting. This was a world record which never made the history books, however, as in the second heat of the same stake, Brisco Hanover lowered the record to 1:57. As a two-year-old, Speedy Somolli won 10 of 16 starts, including the Review’s Greyhound Stake, the Hoosier Futurity at Indianapolis, the Arden Downs at The Meadows, a Pennsylvania Sires event, and the Ohio Standardbred at Delaware.

Such was the impression he made that he was named Two Year Old Trotter of the Year, and breeder Alan Leavitt put together a $2 million deal for him in between his two-and-three-year-old season, betting that the son of Speedy Crown would win the Hambletonian the following year. It was a huge gamble, put it paid off handsomely. Speedy Somolli did come back at three to win the Hambletonian, the Yonkers Futurity, the Founders Gold Cup at Vernon Downs, the Review Futurity at Springfield and two Pennsylvania Sires stakes. It is the 1978 Hambletonian that historians have come to regard as one of the most important in the long history of that great stake.

This was certainly one of the most talented Hambletonian fields in history. The field included not only Speedy Somolli, but also Brisco Hanover, his world champion adversary of the previous year; and also the highly regarded Florida Pro and the late-developing Speedster colt Doublemint. The fact that so much talent assembled for the big race set the stage for one of the finest trotting races in the history of the breed. If this was not the best field ever assembled for a Hambletonian, it is pretty close.

THE FIRST TO TROT IN 1:55!

Speedy Somolli set the early pace in the first heat, but rolled past the quarter in a leisurely :30, with no one expecting what would come after that. What the talented youngster did next was to trot the final three-quarters in 1:25 flat, producing the first 1:55 trotting mile in history, and becoming not only the fastest sophomore trotter in history, but also the fastest all-age trotter, supplanting Noble Victory. It was an epic performance from the dynamic colt, but this historic afternoon was far from over. Winning the Hambletonian has never been easy, and this race evolved into a struggle for the ages.

AND THEN THEY DID IT AGAIN!

In the second heat, Beissinger had Speedy Somolli in third down the backside, when he moved him to the front, followed by Florida Pro and George Sholty. Florida Pro was a big, rangy horse, and did not yet have Speedy Somolli’s quickness, but he was a tough customer able to carry his speed over a long piece of the racetrack. Sholty and Florida Pro engaged Speedy Somolli at the five-eighths, and the two gifted colts went head-to-head for the final three-eighths of a mile. In the stretch, Speedy Somolli did his best to hold off Florida Pro’s valiant first-over effort, but the big, black colt was relentless, and it was Florida Pro who hit the wire in front, with the timer once again flashing 1:55.

This was, of course, the most momentous development in historical terms. The 1:55 barrier had been only approached by three-year-olds, as the world record entering this event was Green Speed’s 1:55 3-5 the previous year at Du Quoin, also in the Hambletonian. But no one was ready for this. Suddenly, the mythical speed obstacle had been equaled twice in the same afternoon by two different horses.

HAMBLETONIAN WENT THREE DEMANDING HEATS

In those days, the Hambletonian winner not only had to win two heats, but the entire field was eligible to compete in the first three heats. Florida Pro had the rail for what would be the pivotal third heat, and got away third while Speedy Somolli grabbed a two-hole at the opening quarter behind Brisco Hanover, who had been a tight third in the first two heats. Years later, driver George Sholty would admit that it was here he made a tactical error. With Speedy Somolli in the two-hole, Sholty could have moved Florida Pro to the front off the quarter, and forced Speedy Somolli into a first-over challenge later in the mile. However, Sholty decided to stay back, and it was Speedy Somolli who took command entering the Du Quoin backstretch. Later in the mile, Florida Pro was locked in and Sholty had to move three wide at the three-quarters just to reach contention. With Florida Pro encountering traffic problems, Speedy Somolli’s connections no doubt believed the race was over. It wasn’t.

Brisco Hanover had set directly behind Speedy Somolli throughout the mile, and was a fresh horse for the stretch drive. Brisco’s trainer/driver Jim Miller guided him to the outside and came even with Speedy Somolli as the field approached the final sixteenth of a mile. Nearing the wire, it looked as if Brisco Hanover would win the heat, but then he became rough-gaited and made a break. Speedy Somolli survived and took the Hambletonian trophy.

SPEEDY SOMOLLI LOST HIS SHOT AT THE TRIPLE CROWN

Later that same year, Speedy Somolli lost his attempt to win the Triple Crown, failing to win the Kentucky Futurity as Doublemint and Peter Haughton took home the honors in that fabled stakes event. The Kentucky Futurity was the final start of Speedy Somolli’s celebrated career, and he went into the stud at Lana Lobell Farms of New Jersey.

Speedy Somolli could easily be described as a real hotrod. He had an impeccably clean gait, blazing speed and tremendous tenacity. However, he was an aggressive, anxious horse who often made breaks behind the starting gate. At two, he made breaks in six of his 16 starts. At three, he overcame his breaking habits, but he was still not an easy horse to manage. He took a strong hold behind the gate, no doubt robbing him of valuable energies he could have put to good use during the course of a race.

Still, Speedy Somolli would have to be judged as one of the fastest, best-gaited trotters to ever have raced. He was a speedball of the highest order, and although his natural capacity was difficult to throttle and manage, these tremendous abilities were destined to be seen in what we now know was one of the most important horses in all of trotting’s historic past.

SPEEDY SOMOLLI BECAME A SIRE OF IMMENSE IMPORTANCE

In the stud, Speedy Somolli produced three Hambletonian winners--Nuclear Kosmos 3,1:55 4-5 ($985,687) Park Avenue Joe 3,1:55 3-5 ($666,311) and Alf Palema 3,1:54 3-5 ($1,016,842.) He also sired the Breeders Crown winner Baltic Speed 3,1:56 ($1,271,674) and the Kentucky Futurity winner Flak Bait 3,1:55 2-5 ($880,576); as well as millionaires Go Get Lost 4,1:54 3-5; Friendly Face 4,1:54 1-5; Somollison 3,1:56 1-5 and Beseiged 3,1:56 1-5. Another of his stars both here and in Europe is the gifted Mr. Lavec 3,1:54 3-5 ($1,995,988) a horse who starred here in the US at two and three for Jimmy Takter and breeder Johan Dieden, and then became a success on the tough European racing circuit. Mr. Lavec now stands at Tara Hills Stud in Ontario after beginning his career in New York at Blue Chip Farms.

Speedy Somolli also sired a number of successful European performers, or horses who accomplished much after export, including Meadow Prophet 1:55 3-5f; JR Broline 4,1:56 1-5f; Kosar 1:56 1-5f; Lemoyne Square 3,1:55 4-5; Moment Of Magic 4,1:56 3-5; and Dylan Lobell 1:57f, among many others.

His overall fastest credit was the remarkable world champion mare B Rude 4,1:53 4-5, and there were a number of other successful females, including Hambletonian Oaks winner Wordly Woman 4,1:54 3-5 and world champion Cayster 4,1:55. Speedy Somolli has also become an important broodmare sire, since his daughters have produced the world’s fastest trotter, Pine Chip 4,T1:51; the world champion and Hambletonian winner American Winner 3,1:52 3-5 (a horse very much in the mold of Speedy Somolli himself in both physical appearance and gait ) and the unbelievable CR Kay Suzie 4,1:52 3-5.

A SIRE LINE OF MANY SUCCESSFUL HORSES

From this list of sons, both Park Avenue Joe and Alf Palema are successful young sires, but it was Speedy Somolli’s Breeders Crown-winning son, Baltic Speed, who was destined to make the greatest impact. In stud at Castleton Farm in New Jersey, Baltic Speed’s first crop produced two trotters that are among the most accomplished of the modern era--Peace Corps, the great mare who is the leading money-winning Standardbred of all time with more than $5 million earned--and Valley Victory, the young sire whose offspring have changed world trotting in a very profound way.

Valley Victory’s tremendous, innate ability on the track was very much reminiscent of his grandsire Speedy Somolli than that of his own sire, Baltic Speed. And it is the belief here that Speedy Somolli’s true greatness was finally revealed not in a son, but in his grandson Valley Victory. Baltic Speed was a good-gaited, naturally-gifted horse who had his own moments on the track. But with Valley Victory, Baltic Speed has emerged as a prominent and strong link in a chain of the world’s greatest line of trotters. We will never know what kind of race horse Valley Victory was meant to be, for we were cheated from that due to illness at the height of his three-year-old season. What Valley Victory has accomplished, however, may be traced in large part to the tremendous abilities of his grandsire Speedy Somolli.

VALLEY VICTORY IS CHASING STAR'S PRIDE

Many have refered to Valley Victory as the greatest trotting sire in history, but that honor must still rest with Star’s Pride, whose eight Hambletonian winners and ten Kentucky Futurity champions is a record which will be difficult to match. Star's Pride also produced four winners of the Triple Crown, so Valley Victory has a long way to go to rival Star’s Pride’s overall record of accomplishment. Valley Victory is an important horse whose contributions to the breed are extremely significant. He certainly is the most consequential trotting sire of this past decade. Without his on-going fertility problems, it is reasonable to assume that Valley Victory could have risen to a level equal to that of Star’s Pride, or the other seminal stallions of the past such as Scotland, Volomite or Guy Axworthy.

Valley Victory produces a very attractive, clean-gaited, long-bodied, intelligent, fast and willing horse. The only criticism which may be leveled at Valley Victory is that his offspring are generally not a sound group of horses, and their useful life span on the race track is therefore somewhat limited. This is an acknowledged fact that most trainers have come to understand, and even manage to their advantage. For example, just this past season, trainer Chuck Sylvester did a fine job with Muscles Yankee in this regard.

A LEGACY THAT TRACES TO SPEED SOMOLLI

The colossal speed and willingness of the Valley Victory bloodline is in many ways directly traceable to Speedy Somolli, the grandsire, for it is his blood that courses through these champions, and his legacy of speed that we have come to associate with this sire line. Speedy Crown has not, to date, produced this same brand of phenomenal speed through any other son or grandson.

It all really began with Speedy Somolli and his own rare racing heroics more than 20 years ago. Where it might end is anybody’s guess.

NEXT WEEK, A LOOK AT THE YOUNG SONS OF VALLEY VICTORY