GREAT HARNESS HORSES 1960-1980
NUMBER 39
SAN SIMEON
When I began this series of stories back in 1998, I promised myself that I would only write about horses that I had seen in person. Well with this story I am going to break the rules because THIS horse was simply too good NOT to include in the series. It is now 36 years since he set his record of winning 29 consecutive races and STILL no horse has managed to equal it, let alone break it! In fact 24 consecutive wins is the closest ANY horse has come to his outstanding win sequence. I never saw him race although I DID see the videos, and I followed his career VERY closely as he won race after race, going from a maiden performer to Inter Dominion class, unbeaten. He was the first, and only, horse ever to achieve that feat, and this is his story.
I could never have written this story without the help of a friend in W.A. Without his input, this story would have just been a collection of his race statistics. He was a stable assistant at Milson Lodge helping Lou Austin, and was there from before San Simeon turned 2yo until he was past his 3yo season, so he was there for the bulk of his unbeaten sequence. Fromhis position, he was able to add all the stable information that gives a story such as this, it’s depth. I am extremely grateful to him for his assistance. All the statistics are mine but the ‘nitty gritty stuff’ is all his.
So Noel Hughes this one’s for you, and thank you.
Brothers Ron and Lyall Porter owned Milson Lodge, a 65 acre stud/training complex located at Armadale, a semi rural suburb of Perth. It was established by their father, Howard, and continued by them after his death. Over the years they employed various live in managers who also acted as their trainer, but for the period in question this was Lou Austin. As their racing and breeding interests grew, the brothers became very friendly with Bob Weir, who had the Adios stud, and they had shares in various sires that stood at Bob’s stud. They used these sires to cover most of their mares with Leyoro and Captain Hook being the two most used.
For some time they raced nearly all the horses they bred, but as their group of broodmares grew, it became impractical to race ALL their progeny, so they became well known vendors at the WA Yearling Sales. By the late 1970’s they had won a WA Pacing cup with Black Bertha, run second to Rip Van Winkle in the Final of the Australian Pacing Championship at Globe Derby with Milson Edition, and had some success with fillies in juvenile classic races, but the champion pacer they were always seeking had eluded them.
One of their mares was Leyoro Lass, a chestnut with 4 white stockings and a broad blaze. She was not up to Metropolitan class and was leased to another trainer who won with her at Wyalkatchem. When she was returned to the Porters she was sent to Captain Hook as part of a consignment. Nothing was expected from her, and when in foal to Captain Hook she was advertised for sale for $1500. There were no takers for her so she and her foal were retained by the Porters, and one of the greatest opportunities ever to be available to harness racers was missed!
The resultant foal was named San Simeon by Ron Porter’s wife, Bobby. Bobby Porter was an American, and she and her husband visited the United States fairly regularly. On one such holiday they visited Hearst Castle, one of the most popular tourist attractions in California, which attracts many millions of tourists a year. William Randolph Hearst was a Newspaper magnate of the time, much in the same mould as Rupert Murdoch is today, and the 1940 Academy Award winning movie, Citizen Kane, is about his life. He was determined to build a castle which would be his legacy after his death. He acquired 40,000 acres of ranchland and spent 28 years building his castle, which was finished in 1947. It features, amongst other things, 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms and 41 fireplaces. It is built in an area called San Simeon, and Bobby Porter, apparently, liked the name so much she utilised it for the Leyoro Lass colt. Lou Austin’s wife, Marg, gave him his ‘stable name’, Leo, as it was the astrological sign he was born under.
Once he started to develop it became obvious he was a colt of promise, so sending him to the yearling sales was never an option.
Austin broke him in without any difficulty, but there was no sign of anything ‘special’ about him until the hopples were put on for the first time. He bolted in fright at these ‘strange’ things on his legs, but he bolted in a beautiful, and speedy, pace, and he immediately became the object of some scrutiny. Lou Austin was convinced, right there and then, that he had a future champion in his hands. He was a quick learner and was trialing like an experienced aged pacer before he went to his first 2yo trial! Noel Hughes remembers an early trial very well. He was working out with Milson Edition, who was a FFA class horse, on the Milson Lodge private track. Hughes drove San Simeon and Austin drove Milson Edition. Noel recalls “My instructions were to pull out at the 400 and let him run up alongside Milson Edition, and Lou was going to hold HIS horse back to San Simeon as best he could BUT… they ran their last quarter in 27.8 and Lou’s horse was battling to keep up to this unraced baby! Neither Lou or myself wanted to admit to each other what we had stopped our clocks at in case we had messed it up, but in the end it was broad smiles all round and shaking of heads, this boy was certainly “different”
He repeated this ‘form’ on all his future workout occasions just to prove it was no fluke. Hughes was talking to his father later that day and told him of the workout, and he told his uncle, Norm Forrest, who right there and then decide to back San Simeon at his every start! The rest, as we now know, is history.
San Simeon was Leyoro Lass’s first foal, and although she had five or six more, none came even close to being as good as San Simeon.
He had his first start at Bunbury on 11-11-78 in a 2yo event beating Pacific Ruler and rating 2-10.4 for the 1700 metre event. A week later he started off 10 metres at Pinjarra in a similar event and won again, this time rating 2-7.1 beating Brett Sands. He was then given a let up and resumed 3 months later at GP. Off the front in a 2yo race he had no trouble defeating Pacific Ruler again. Two weeks later he was at Pinjarra winning a heat of the Triple Crown and six nights later was at GP for the Final. He was sent out 9-10 favourite and took his record to 5 in a row when the won, rating a very fast 2-3.9 which was a new Australian record. Two weeks after he was at Bunbury winning a heat of the Sires Produce Stakes and the following week won the Final at GP. He started 5-4 favourite and beat Pacific Ruler by 10 metres and ran a new W.A. record.
Two weeks later he was at Richmond winning the Champagne Stakes from Seattle Prince in race record time and he then went back to GP for the Golden Slipper. The heats were held on 2-6-79, he started 2-7 favourite, and beat Irish Rowan by 20 metres with 30 metres to Red Annika. For the Final the following week he started at 1-5 and had little trouble defeating On The Mat and Seattle Prince. It was his 10th consecutive win and his last for the season giving him a perfect 10 for 10 win record as a 2yo. Naturally he was voted 2yo Pacer of the Year later in the season.
He resumed 4 months later in a 3yo event at GP, started at 1-4 and won by 8 metres form Gold Rowan. A week later he won a 3yo Championship heat and the following week won the Final from Pacific Ruler. Sometime after this race San Simeon became very sick and almost died. He languished under the ill effects of an extraordinary worm infestation caused by unusual weather conditions which promoted favourable larvae development in the reticulated day paddocks of Milson Lodge. His training schedule was severely disrupted and he went into the WA Derby heats on 11-4-80 without a lead up race. Although nowhere near his best, he won his heat and the following week won the Final beating the very good horse, Gammalite. He led them most of the way and in the home straight he was just driven with the reins to hold out Gammalite, who was being driven desperately to try and catch the leader, but to no avail. San Simeon started at 2-5 and rated 2.1 6/10 beating Gammalite by 3 metres with 10 metres to Gold Rowan. It was his 15th consecutive win.
The pressure to keep the winning streak intact was now building up on Lou Austin. He had been racing San Simeon for 17 months without a defeat, and the owners, as well as the public and Media, were becoming more and more caught up in the vortex of publicity. It was doubly difficult for Austin because, not only was he responsible for the horse and, ultimately, the winning sequence, but he still had his duties as farm manager to contend with. As well there were offers being made to buy the horse, and this was a worry to Austin who would have hated to have lost a horse as good as this to some overseas or eastern states buyer while it was still unbeaten.
A week later, still at GP, he contested the Australian Derby. This attracted a very strong field which included Gammalite and the NSW Derby winner, Action Advice. San Simeon began very fast and went straight to the front and was never headed. Down the back straight the last time he was 3 lengths in front and he turned for home 4 lengths in front and with the Derby at his mercy. He won by 12 metres from On the Mat with Gammalite a neck back 3rd. That was his last start as a 3yo. He only had 6 starts that season but still remained unbeaten in 16 starts. He was later voted 3yo Pacer of the year.
It was around this time that the famous ‘match race’ was being organised between Pure Steel and Satinover. The intentions were for it to be a 3 way match race with San Simeon as the other runner, but he was spelling when it was scheduled to be run so did not take part.
Given 5 months off, he resumed at Harvey on 13-9-80, started at 1-6, and easily beat Lusty Muffett. Two weeks later he contested a Discretionary Handicap at Bunbury, off 10 metres over 2500 metres, started at 1-10 and won again. Then he went to GP and took on the best Open class pacers in a FFA, started at 4-7, and ran a new race record rating 2.6 1/10 beating Skiptar by 6 metres. On the 10-10-80 he had his first start at Fremantle, started at 1-10, and easily beat Lord Lark. It was his 20th consecutive win. Win number 21 came a week later at GP in a heat of the 4 and 5yo Championship where he started at 1-8 and ran a new record beating Race Ruler by 16 metres. In the Final the following week he started at 1-6 and beat Society Guy by 16 metres with Skiptar 3rd.
The closer he came to the Australian record of 24 consecutive wins the greater the pressure became, and Austin was feeling it badly!Three weeks later he beat Skiptar again, this time at Richmond and on 5-12-80 he won a FFA there easily beating Black Irish and starting at 1-10. With this win, number 24, he equalled the record of 24 consecutive wins set by Lucky Creed in 1970 and equalled by Maori’s Idol in 1978. The pressure was now intense with the new record within sight. Ten days later he won at GP beating Skiptar and Pacific Ruler and became the outright record holder with 25 wins from his only 25 starts. It was an emotional Lou Austin who returned to scale in front of a huge crowd that were absolutely ecstatic. He admitted to them in his victory speech that “things at home were getting pretty strained too. I would never envy anyone who had to go through a record attempt”.
He then contested the Benson and Hedges W.A. Pacing Cup. His first heat win was a sensational victory. He broke at the start and settled down in 7th place. When he made his run in the last lap he was forced 3 wide but coming to the home turn was 4 wide. Despite this hard run he gained the upper hand half way down the straight and recorded a terrific victory. He started at 1-6 and beat Local Mark by 4 metres with Koala King, off 15 metres, 3rd. The last lap was timed at 57.6 and San Simeon came from well back and was very wide, so the time HE ran must have been sensational! A week later he won his second round of heats, but those who took the 1-3 were VERY worried as he only prevailed by a half a head from Skiptar! He began well from the back line and settled in 4th place and in the last lap raced to a huge lead. He was still 5 lengths in front turning for home but close to the line Austin appeared to ‘ease’ him, and Skiptar charged home to almost catch him. After the race Austin admitted “I went to sleep. If I had been beaten I would have deserved a suspension”! In the Final on 2-1-81 he drew barrier 10 on the second row. He was inconvenienced early and settled in 6th place with King Carramar leading unchallenged. At the bell he made his move 3 wide and approaching the home turn was 4 wide, but he raced to the front when they straightened and had the race safely in his keeping half way down the straight. The winning margin was 6 metres from King Carramar with Local mark 3rd. He then prepared to travel to Hobart for the Inter Dominion series. The tears flowed from his family as they farewelled him at the airport when he and San Simeon boarded the huge Ansett cargo plane. The pressure to continue the winning streak must have been intense for Austin at this stage.
The first heats were on 7-3-81 and from the front over the mile journey, San Simeon had no trouble leading all the way to win by 5 metres from Melfield Tyros with 3 metres to Michael Frost. He began very fast to lead and was just cruising in front to record a very easy victory. His time was 2.0 1/5 and it was his 29th consecutive win meaning he had gone from a Maiden performer to Inter Dominion class unbeaten. Four nights later the ‘world came to an end’! He was beaten! It was the second night of heats over 2500 metres and from the front he was beaten for the lead by Michael Frost. He missed the start but then moved up to try and get the lead from Michael Frost without using too much energy, but when he couldn’t he just sat outside the leader. Michael Ilsley drove Michael Frost that night for his father, Joe, who had been suspended, and he recalls “Lou made a couple of half hearted attempts to get to the front, but gave up quickly when it was obvious that I did not intend to relinquish it”.
At the 600 metre mark he attacked Michael Frost in earnest and they went very hard from there until the 200 metre when San Simeon dropped off slightly. Michael Ilsley thought that Austin was just ‘steadying’ him in preparation for one last charge but to his surprise it never came and he went to the post 6 metres in front of the champion. As the horses were coming back to the official placings enclosure, Michael Ilsley said that Austin headed his horse over towards Michael Frost. “I thought he was going to punch me” he recalls, “but instead he reached over, shook my hand and congratulated me on the win”. Ilsley said “I’m sorry”, to which Austin replied “thank god it’s over!” Ilsley recalls “he had looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders during the week but seemed very relieved to no longer have to face the pressure of trying to maintain the unbeaten sequence. He said he could now get on with the job of winning the Grand Final”.
Sure enough, with all the ‘pressure’ gone, Lou Austin had no trouble winning the last heat by 10 metres from Frosty Imp with Friendly Footman 3rd and ran a new track record rating 2.8 2/5 for the 3100 metre event. He went to the front early and opened up a big break going down the back straight the last time, was still well in front on the home turn and won at his leisure. In the Final the following week he jumped straight to the front and led all the way, racing 4 lengths clear turning for home, and won in ‘second gear’, beating Single Again by 10 metres with Ardstraw 4 metres further back in 3rd place, with his time ANOTHER new track record. After the race Vin Knight, who drove Kotare Knight, joked to Austin that if he hadn’t left his best horse at home HE would have won the final instead of San Simeon! Austin went along with the ‘joke’ and asked who was the horse he left at home, to which Vinny replied “a real good young one named Popular Alm”! This was his last start for the season and as a 4yo San Simeon had 16 starts for 15 wins and one second. He was later voted 1981 Australian Harness Horse of the year.
He resumed as a 5yo on 16-10-81 in a heat of the 4 and 5yo Championship at GP, started at 1-6, and won easily from Fast Mark and Pinto. In the Final the following week he was at 1-10 but won by the barest of margins, a head, but there were reasons for his close call. The track was wet and San Simeon pulled a flat tyre for the last 2 laps BUT he also sprained a suspensory during the race. The injury was kept secret as he had just been invited to America to contest the World Cup series at The Meadowlands, and as well a firm offer of $500,000 had come from Canadian interests to buy the horse.
He remained in work with a lot of therapeutic wading in the ocean in an effort to help the injury. The Porter’s also employed a vet to personally supervise the horse’s injury and training. When Austin and San Simeon left for America the vet went with them. They went from a Perth Summer to an American Winter and the change in climate didn’t help their efforts to get him back to his best. Although still carrying the injury, he qualified at The Meadowlands in a tick over 1.59. Amazingly it was his FIRST sub 2.0 mile! He was capable of beating that time easily but had never done so in a race as it was never required!
He failed a vet inspection and the sale fell through. He raced in the World Cup series in May 1982, but raced well below his best due to the injury he was carrying. In the three races he contested the best he could do was a 3rd. It was reported here that he injured himself in America but that was not true, he carried the injury to the States and it just got worse over there.
He was returned to Australia and when he had recovered from his injury was put back into work. He had his next, and last, start 8 months later at Fremantle on 28-1-83, but was only a shadow of his former self and finished 7th to Black Irish. He was immediately retired to stud duties. In Australia, San Simeon had 35 starts for 33 wins and one second, and had 3 runs in the United States for a 3rd. He retired with prizemoney of $383,799. The HRA website has his record listed as 42 starts for 33 wins, three 2nds and one third with a best winning mile rate of 1.59, but I don’t think those details are correct.
At stud he sired 303 foals for 96 winners who, between them, won $2,020,046 in prizemoney.
San Simeon holds an unusual place in the minds of many harness racing fans. Most don’t seem to know where to place him, because just as he reached Grand Circuit class he was whisked off to the USA, and we never got to see him compete, on a regular basis, against our other established stars. For this reason he is not often classed as one of our all time great pacers even though he still holds the record for most consecutive wins. His detractors will argue that he ran up his wins against mostly local horses in WA and the Inter Dominion series he contested in Tasmania was considered a weak series. That is mostly true BUT let us not forget that as a 3yo he was the master of Gammalite, and we all know how good a horse HE was, and at his first tilt at Group racing, the 1980 W.A. Pacing Cup, he easiy accounted for Koala King who was the reigning Inter Dominion Champion, a VERY highly credentialled horse, and the subject of a previous story by me. Those two pacers won THREE Inter Dominions between them! Then his opponents in the Tasmanian Inter Dominion included Pure Steel, Michael Frost, who was a top class horse as was Frosty Imp and Ardstraw, and Friendly Footman won the 1981 Miracle Mile! So while he never competed regularly on the Grand Circuit, in the two Group One races he contested he defeated the winners of 3 Inter Dominions, 4 A.G. Hunter Cups, 4 WA Pacing cups, 3 Winfield Cups and 2 Miracle Miles! Those victories, together with his 29 consecutive wins, should be WELL remembered when assessing just where San Simeon sits in the annuls of Harness Racing Greats.
The next, final, story will be ‘up’ on Monday. This is the ‘big one’ I promised.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
