Great Harness Horses 1960-1980
ARDROSSAN
Over the years many of our good horses have been sold to America before we saw them reach their peak here. As such, we never had the opportunity to find out just how good they were. Tonight’s story is about one of those, a horse who won 29 of his 40 starts here and was NEVER out of the prizemoney, and yet is probably unknown to most who will read this story. He began racing 50 years ago and will, I hope, be remembered after you have read of his deeds. His name was Ardrossan.
Ardrossan was by Allegiance out of Aberfoyle and was bred in the NSW Riverina district where he did most of his early racing. He had his first start on 10-12-65 at Leeton in a 2yo event, started at 10-1, and won rating 2-18. His next start was 8 days later when he ran 4th, off 12 yards, in another 2yo race. On 27-12-65 he won a heat of the MIA Breeders Plate by 18 yards and started at 10-1, and 5 days later won the final by 25 yards. He then crossed the border to Wangaratta for the N.E. and Districts Breeders Plate, winning his heat quite comfortably and then winning the final by 8 yards as an odds on favourite. Back to NSW he won the S.W.& Riverina Sapling Stakes by 9 yards and then travelled to HP for his first start at ‘headquarters’. He contested a heat of the NSW Sapling Stakes on 18-3-66 but could only finish 4th to Toyota. Two weeks later he had his last start for the season, winning the Country 2yo Championship at HP. His 2yo season saw 9 starts for 7 wins.
Resuming as a 3yo he won his first 3 starts at Leeton. First up, on 15-10-66, he won a 3yo event after starting at 1-8, and 3 weeks later started at the same price and won again. On 26-11-66 he started at ‘only’ 1-5, winning a 2.28 class (C0) by 16 yards. Back to HP for the Sires Produce heats he ran into future champion pacer, Adaptor, and was beaten a head by him with 30 yards to the rest of the field. A week later he could only finish 5th to Adaptor in the final. He then won his next 7 straight. Back to Leeton he won, starting at 1-6, and on the 2-1-67 started at 1-8 and won by 25 yards. A month later, still at Leeton, he won by 10 yards after starting at 1-8 and then travelled to Temora. Off 12 yards in a 2.25 (C4) race, he won by 10 yards, starting at 2-5. At his next start in the Wagga Cup the bookies took a chance and put him up at 2-1, one of their rare mistakes! He won easily. Next was the S.W.& Riverina Derby at Leeton which he won easily at 1-4 and then back to HP for the Country 3yo Championship. The local bookies took a chance and he started at ‘only’ 9-10. He absolutely ‘bolted’ in, winning by 50 yards. Next was the heats of the NSW Derby on 14-4-67. In his heat he ran 3rd to Robert Eden but came out the following week and won the final from his old adversary, Adaptor. Starting at 6-4, he ran a new race record and won easily by 8 yards. That was his last start for the season and he finished his 3yo career with 14 starts for 11 wins. He was DEFINITELY a horse with a promising future.
Resuming as a 4yo in a Barelllan FFA on 7-11-67, he ran 2nd to Scottish Fusilier but 4 days later won at Temora by 36 yards and then won a Leeton FFA by 15 yards. He was then beaten in a Wagga FFA, running 2nd to High Power, before travelling to HP once again. He won a Graduation Stakes there on 8-12-67 by 15 yards and then, a month later, won a Young FFA by 25 yards. Back to HP for another easy win, but the following week only ran 3rd to Woodland Plebe. On the 26-1-68 he won a Wagga FFA by 10 yards, starting at 1-10, and 2 weeks later won a Temora FFA by 15 yards and started at 1-15. Back to HP where he ran 3rd to Arthur’s Son but the following week won there beating Emerald Scott easily. He then travelled to Temora but, from 48 yards, could only finish 2nd to outstanding pacer, Garry Rowan. He then went to Young and started at 1-10 winning a FFA by 12 yards, and then on the 13-4-68 won at Temora from 48 yards behind, after starting at 1-5 and winning by 28 yards. Back to HP for a 2nd to top class pacer, Corale Oaks, and on the 3-5-68 won his last start in Australia, at HP, beating good horse, Lucky Cardinal, by 10 yards. He was then sold to American interests for $40,000 plus contingencies.
For the rest of 1968 he had 14 starts for 4 wins, the fastest being 2.00. The next year he had 21 starts for 6 wins, the fastest being 2.0 2/5 and in 1970 he had 27 starts for 9 wins his fastest time was, once again, 2.0 2/5. It’s probably fair to say that Ardrossan didn’t ‘go on with it’ in the USA as was hoped, even though he won 19 races there out of 62 starts.
It is interesting to compare his career as a 2,3 and 4yo with the current NSW Grand Circuit ‘hot shot’ Smooth Satin (when this story was originally written!) In his first 3 years of racing Smooth Satin had 36 starts for 22 wins, a 61% win strike rate, which was just a bit behind Ardrossan’s 29 wins in 40 starts for a 74% win strike rate. Both came from the Western Districts, both won classic races as 3yo’s and both raced successfully against ‘open’ class pacers as 4yo’s. It is only a matter of conjecture as to how good Ardrossan might have been as a 5yo if he had stayed here at home. Who knows, he may have been another Smooth Satin, but unfortunately that’s something we’ll never know.
By Jim Hogan
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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