Until Maori’s Idol came along I considered this mare as the greatest trotter I ever saw, however he changed all that. So now she is ‘merely’ the SECOND best trotter I have seen, but is so far ahead of the third best that they could be classed as ‘distanced’! She was an absolutely SUPER trotter and this is her story.
Great Harness Horses 1960-1980
The Queen of trotters…….Gramel – By Jim Hogan
As the fans filed into Wayville on 21-3-64 it was a fair assumption the majority weren’t there to watch the races on the program, instead they were there to see a 6yo trotting mare go around the track, on her own, in an attempt to break the mile against time trotting record. No one was sure if she could succeed, however, as the record had been set just three years earlier by one of the greatest trotting mares this country had seen, Carlotta’s Pride. The winner of six trotter’s cups (3 at HP, 2 in Melbourne and 1 in S.A.) plus numerous open class events and FFA’S, Carlotta’s Pride had even won a pacers event beating a future Inter-Dominion grand final placegetter, Maestro’s Melody. She had been a superb trotter and Gramel was no certainty to break her record. When the dust had settled, however, and the time trial was over, the croud stood in absolute awe. She hadn’t just broken the record, she had shattered it, taking 2 1/10 seconds off the old time. But this wasn’t what had the croud shell-shocked, she had also broken the PACER’S record, a record that had stood, unassailable, for 27 years! A record that had been set by one of the legends of harness racing, Lawn Derby, the first Australasian horse to break two minutes. That his time could, or would, be broken by a TROTTING mare seemed inconceivable. No trotter had EVER broken the pacer’s record before and none has done so since, but then nobody ever imagined a trotter could be as good as Gramel.
Gramel, or ‘Gracie’ as she was known to everyone, was beautifully bred, being by Johnny Globe out of American Brigade. On her Sire’s side she traced back to Logan Derby and Globe Derby, and on her Dam’s side, to Volomite and Peter Volo. She was, therefore, bred ‘in the purple’ to be a pacer. It has been reported that she began her career as a pacer and actually won races at that gait, but I have never been able to find ANY official records of this. She did TRIAL as a pacer, and win, but it was decided that she went better as a trotter. I have sometimes wondered if people’s memories have become confused on this point due to her trial wins and also her racing against, and beating, pacers, during her career.
Gramel had 4 starts as a 3yo. At her first start on 28-2-61 she finished 10th and 3 weeks later ran 6th in the S.A. Trotter’s Derby. She won her next start at Strathalbyn and then travelled to Sydney for the NSW Trotter’s Derby, where she finished 2nd to Top Command. Resuming as a 4yo in November she won her first 3 starts at Strathalbyn, Kapunda and Victor Harbour, before running unplaced at her next 2 starts. She then ran two seconds before winning her next 4 in a row. The first of these was on 7-4-62 at Wayville, where she won by 25 yards. A week later she came off 84 yards at Kapunda and won by 15 yards, and then she won at Strathalbyn, setting her first track record. Two weeks later she came off 96 yards, once again at Strathalbyn, and won easily by 15 yards. She had 2 more starts as a 4yo, running unplaced at Wayville before running 2nd, from 60 yards, at Snowtown. As a 4yo she won 7 of 13 starts and was definately on the improve.
She resumed as a 5yo on 2-10-62, winning first up from 108 yards behind, and winning by a further 60 yards! Two weeks later she had her first HP start, running 5th, but a fortnight later won an Invitation at HP. The following week she ran 2nd, beaten a neck. Back home to Wayville on 8-12-62, she won, equalling the track record, and then she went to Melbourne for 2 races. She ran 6th in a FFA on 28-12-62 before winning the V.L.Dullard Cup a week later, equalling the track record. Back to Wayville she ran 9th in a FFA before winning off 120 yards at Strathalbyn. She then ran 2nd at Wayville before running 3rd in the Hambletonian Cup at Gawler from 60 yards. Gracie then won her next 3 in a row. The first was at Wayville on 9-3-63, in track record time, and then a week later easily won a FFA in Melbourne, also in track record time. The following week she started off 24 yards in the E.B.Cochran Cup and again won in record time. A month later she
ran 3rd
at Wayville before winning off 48 yards at Gawler, and then absolutely ‘trouncing’ them at Strathalbyn, winning by 75 yards after starting off 132 yards behind! In her final two 5yo starts she ran 2nd, off 24 yards, in the S.A.Trotter’s Cup before easily winning her last start, at Snowtown, from 96 yards. Her 5yo season saw 19 starts for 11 wins.
As a 6yo she had 16 starts for 11 wins including 5 new track records. She won first up at Kapunda from 144 yards, and then ran 3rd at Gawler from 48 yards. On 8-10-63 she had her first start against pacers, at Strathalbyn. Off 12 yards and starting 6-4 favourite she won in track record time! Nine days later she set another track record, this time winning at Kapunda from 144 yards. Twelve days later she won her second race against pacers. This was a 2-19 to 2-17 (c10-m5) fast class event at Gawler. She then ran 2nd at Wayville before travelling to Melbourne. On 28-12-63 she won a FFA, and a week later won her second V.L.Dullard Cup. This time she broke the track record, after starting from 48 yards, and still won easily by 15 yards. Back to Gawler for another win in record time, from 48 yards, before returning to Melbourne for the Australasian Trotter’s Championship. She won her first heat from 36 yards before running 2nd in the next heat, from 48 yards.
Off 48 yards in the final, on 29-2-64, she won in magnificent style breaking the track record. She had one more start in Melbourne, running 3rd in a FFA, before returning to Wayville for her time trial detailed at the beginning of this story. Three weeks later she won at Kapunda, from 96 yards, and, once again, set a new track record, before running 3rd in a pacer’s race. At her final 6yo start, on 16-5-64, she easily won a Wayville FFA. She was now being acclaimed everywhere as the greatest trotting mare this country had seen.
She resumed 5 months later at Wayville, running a close 2nd, from 60 yards, before winning a HP FFA a week later in record time. The next week she set another record at HP, this time winning by 20 yards after starting from 60 yards behind. On 24-10-64 she contested her first HP Trotter’s Cup. Starting off 60 yards she began well, caught the field early, and went straight around the field to take the lead. With one lap to go she was 4 lengths in front and ‘jogging’, eventually winning by 20 yards! It was a display of complete superiority rarely seen at THIS level. Two weeks later, off 72 yards, she struck trouble and only finished 8th, but the NSW Trotting Club officials wanted one more record from her. She was invited to ‘go against the clock’. One week later she became the fastest trotter ever, in Australia and NZ, clocking 2-1 1/5, an incredible time for the HP track in 1964. She then travelled to Melbourne, winning her first 2 starts, from 72 yards, BOTH in track record time, before running 4th from the same mark. As in Sydney, she was invited to Time Trial and on 19-12-64 set new figures for the Melbourne Showgrounds trotting 2-3 2/5. Back to Wayville where she easily won 2 FFA’s and then she crossed the Tasman to compete in the ID Trotter’s Championship in Dunedin.
Off 36 yards throughout the series, she won her first heat on 20-2-65 in easy fashion, and 4 nights later won her 2nd heat. Slowly away from her back mark, she caught the field and went 3 wide to lead at the ‘bell’, before winning comfortably in track record time. Three nights later she made it 3 in a row, winning the final heat easily despite racing wide during the race. A week later she surprised everyone by running below her usual form and only finishing 4th in the final. She simply had an ‘off’ day, as mares sometimes do. She returned home and ran 2nd off 108 yards, at Wayville, before running 2nd again, this time in a fast class pacer’s event. On 1-5-65 she won easily at Wayville, off 96 yards in track record time, and returned a week later to win the S.A.Trotter’s Cup from 60 yards, once again in track record time. At her final start for the season she ran 2nd in a FFA. She had 19 starts, as a 7yo, for 12 wins and set 9 records along the way, including the outright fastest time ever by a trotter.
Resuming 4 months later at Gawler she ran 3rd from 132 yards before travelling to Broken Hill to, once again, race against the clock. On 25-9-65 she set a new track record at Broken Hill clocking 2-2 4/5, an outstanding time for this track, and broke the outright (trotter’s and pacer’s) track record there. Two weeks later she won a HP FFA, in record time, and was then invited to try for the Menangle Park track record. Three days after her HP win she went against the clock at the NSW Trotting Club’s out-of-town track, Menangle Park, and once again set a new outright track record of 2-2 3/5. Back to HP 8 days later for an easy win off 84 yards and then she turned in one of the most superlative efforts ever seen in Sydney. Handicapped off 96 yards in the Spring Trotter’s Cup, she gradually made up her distance to be last of the main bunch of horses with 2 laps to go, but still about 50 yards off the leader. As they entered the home straight for the bell lap she started her run, three wide, from the rear of the field. Forced 4 wide down the back straight she still continued to surge forward. At the top of the straight substitute reinsman, Les Chant, just lifted his hands in the air and gave her full rein. She stormed down the outside of the track to win very comfortably by 6 yards. It was an awesome display of complete superiority.
Her next start was at Gawler, 5 weeks later, where she won from 156 yards in track record time, and then 11 nights later won a Wayville FFA by 50 yards! At her next start she only ran 3rd but turned in one of the greatest performances ever seen by a trotter in this country. The race was a fast class pacer’s FFA and Gramel was quoted at 14-1, which was a big change from the 5-4 and 2-1 she started in her last 2 pacer’s events. The reason for her long price was the favourite, Minuteman. Probably the best horse ever produced in S.A. and certainly one of the greatest pacers of the decade, Minuteman was the winner of over 30 races including the S.A.Pacer’s Cup, two A.G. Hunter Cups and the 1964 ID grand final! No one expected that she could match strides with a pacer of THIS calibre, but at the finishing line he was ‘flat out’ to beat Gramel by just 3 yards! Eleven days later she ran 5th, from 156 yards, at Wayville before travelling to Sydney for the 1966 ID Trotters carnival.
On the 28-1-66 she finished 2nd in a FFA after being slowly away and a week later began her Inter Dominion quest. Handicapped off 72 yards in the heats and final she ran 5th on the first night of heats after giving the winner 48 yards start, and on the 2nd night ran 2nd, beaten half a head. She was favourite to win the Final but unbeknown to her a plan was being hatched to bring about her defeat by the connections of Yamamoto.
Yamamoto was trained and driven by Jack (JD) Watts, who qualified him for the Final but was suspended for a drive on a horse at Bankstown, and gave the Grand Final drive to his son, Colin. Gramel was the unchallenged champion trotter of the era and although off 72 yards in the Final was still the horse to beat, so father and son sat down and planned a strategy to bring about her defeat. They both agreed that if she was within 2-3 lengths of Yamamoto in the home straight she would almost certainly run him down so how to prevent that from happening? It was agreed that her driver would probably get her away well from her backmark, catch the field and settle her down in last place before making a move towards the front whenever the pace slackened. The back straight at Harold Park in 1966 had a slight rise in it and drivers at the time jokingly referred to it as ‘going up the hill’! Usually horses leading would slow down slightly as they hit this spot and it was here that they expected Gramel to make her move to improve. Jack’s strategy was simple, they expected to lead on Yamamoto and whenever Colin came to that point he was to increase the tempo for about 100 metres to take those following him off the bit. By doing this they hoped to keep Gramel at the rear until the last lap where she would have to go very wide to make her run towards the leaders.
The plan worked perfectly as Yamamoto led, and every time he went up the back straight Colin let Yamamoto have his head for a bit. If Jack Roberts, Gramel’s driver, was thinking of making a move at that time he decided against it as there appeared to be a ‘sprint’ going on up at the front of the field, and so, with a lap to go, she was still last. When she was pulled out to make her run at the winning post the last time, half the field went with her, this was, after all, an Inter Dominion Final. Forced four and five wide for the entire last lap, Gramel was making up her ground but doing it the hard way. Approaching the home corner the last time, Watts had a look over his shoulder and saw that she was still about five lengths off his horse and gave Yamamoto his head. He led her by four lengths into the home straight but she was charging home powerfully. Right on the line however he was still a half a head in front and that was all he needed to win the race. Father and son were ecstatic at having ‘engineered’ the win over the great Gramel, and the celebrations at the Watts household went on long into the next day.
A week later she ran 6th, again to Yamamoto, from 72 yards. Three days later she went against the clock at Bulli, setting a new track record for trotters at 2-3, and was within 1/10 of a second of equalling the pacer’s record of 2-2 9/10 set by the outstanding pacer, Tarcoola. It was to be her last appearance in Australia for some time.
The decision was made to send her to America rather than continue ‘punishing’ her off ‘impossible’ handicaps. For the rest of 1966 she had 15 starts, in North America, for 3 wins and 7 placings, her fastest time being 2-3 4/5. In 1967 she had 12 starts for nil result and the decision was made to bring her home. After spending 6 months in quarantine, in England, she finally arrived back home in June 1968.
She settled in so well, back in familiar territory, that the decision was made to put her back into work. She resumed racing at Wayville on 22-2-69, now 11 years of age, and ran 6th in a FFA. A week later she ran 2nd, beaten 2 yards, in the S.A Trotter’s Cup, after starting from 48 yards, and 2 weeks later won for the last time in a Wayville FFA. She had 2 more starts, for an 11th at Gawler and a 6th at Wayville, before the curtain was finally pulled down on the career of the finest trotting mare this country had seen. During her illustrious career she won 51 races on 3 continents and set records everywhere.
So the next time someone talks about a more recent ‘champion’ trotter being the best of all time, whether male or female, ask them this. Have they ever broken the track record set by a pacer of the calibre of Lawn Derby? Have they ever won a trotter’s cup from 96 yards behind? Finally, have they ever raced a pacer as good as Minuteman and pushed him to the limit under FFA conditions? If the answer is no, then they may not be quite as good as ‘Gracie’ because she WAS that good!
By Jim Hogan
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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