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1983 Trotting Championship, Auckland - Graeme Lang and Scotch Notch
cross the line
copyright ©
N.Z. Herald |
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Graeme Lang salutes the crowd after their 1983 victory |
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1985 Trotting Championship, Moonee Valley - a second Championship
win to Scotch Notch and Graeme Lang
photo courtesy Harness Racing Victoria |
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Graeme Lang and Scotch Notch with their 1985 Trotting Championship
trophy |
Time trial, Moonee Valley, 9/3/1985 -
Scotch Notch and Graeme Lang set a new World Record in 1:55.6.
photo courtesy Max Agnew’s “The Australian
Harness Horse” |
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WINNER OF TWO INTER DOMINION TROTTING CHAMPIONSHIPS (TR.TT1:55.6)
Foaled in 1977 of pacing lineage, Scotch Notch became the trotting
enigma of her time, with breeding experts puzzling over her pedigree
for years. However, her trotting instincts are still as much a puzzle
now as they were two to three decades ago.
Her sire was the pacer Scottish Bret USA (F1968) P.2,2:01.2; 2:00.6
a son of the world champion pacer Bret Hanover P.1:53.6. Scottish
Bret USA was imported to Australia in 1973 via the United Kingdom,
his first foals arriving in UK and Australia in 1974 and his last
in 1990. Scottish Bret’s winning progeny totalled 131 pacers and,
for a pacing sire, a rather large total of 28 trotters, the fastest
by far of either gait being Scotch Notch.
The dam of Scotch Notch was Ada Glenfern by Tarport Kid USA P.2,2:03.6
( by Direct Rhythm USA P.1:56.2) thus continuing Scotch Notch’s
immediate line of pacing antecedents. It is not until the fourth
generation is reached either paternally or maternally that trotting
blood begins to show, despite some trotting bloodlines in the maternal
family, where her foundation mare is Narelle by the pacing sire
Prince Imperial.
Not racing at all at two year old, Scotch Notch had nine starts
at three years for two wins and four placings, including a win in
the prestigious Victoria Trotters Oaks at Moonee Valley as her season
finale. At four years of age Scotch Notch had thirteen starts, excluding
a time trial in 2:01.4, for eleven wins and one placing. These results
led her owner James Wong and trainer/driver Graeme Lang to think
that greater things were in store for the mare.
As a five-year old, Scotch Notch had eighteen starts in Australia
and New Zealand including a mile in 1:58.6. Her best wins in Australia
included two heats of the Australasian Trotting Championship (second
in the Final), the VL Dullard Trotters Cup and the EB Cochran Trotters
Cup. However, by far the mare’s most important wins were a heat
and the Grand Final of the 1983 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship
at Auckland, NZ. There she set a world record and Inter Dominion
distance record mile rate of 2:04.4ss over 2700 metres, beating
Sir Castleton NZ , who turned out to be her arch rival over three
seasons of racing. Scotch Notch on her first trip to New Zealand
won $49,365 from three wins and a second in four starts. Her lifetime
total at the end of her third season of racing was $137,362 from
42 starts including 25 wins and 9 placings and a lot more was to
come.
In the 1983/84 season Scotch Notch continued her strong performances
with three wins and three places from six starts in Victoria. At
the New Zealand Cup meeting in November 1983 she was second from
45 metres in the NZMTC Handicap. Second again in a FFA, Scotch Notch
then won the prestigious Dominion Trotting Handicap from 10 metres
over 3200 metres. From three starts she had $36,400 in prizemoney.
In South Australia later for the 1984 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship,
Scotch Notch won two heats but was beaten three metres by Sir Castleton
NZ in the Grand Final with the up and coming Tussle NZ third. The
mare’s prizemoney all told for this season was $72,898.
The1984/85 season proved to be Scotch Notch’s best and it was also
the last time Australia’s harness racing industry would see the
mare race. She won nine races at Moonee Valley and had several starts
at Kilmore, including a performance in the Group Two Kilmore Cup
against the pacers.
Resuming her rivalry with Sir Castleton NZ at Moonee Valley in the
1985 Inter Dominion Trotters Championship, Scotch Notch was beaten
in the first heat by her rival but then won a division on the second
night of heats. That set the stage for an epic struggle between
the two in the $30,000 Grand Final over the marathon distance of
3300 metres on the 2nd March 1985.
Scotch Notch proved to be too strong for Sir Castleton NZ, winning
by six metres in front of a track record Moonee Valley crowd of
39,000 which had come to see the contest, and to see if Preux Chevalier
could win the Pacing Championship. On both counts the crowd went
away well pleased with the winning performances of their favourite
trotter and pacer.
A week later, Scotch Notch amid much enthusiasm time trialled in
1:55.6 setting not only a new world record for trotting mares, but
also a new Australasian record, that still stands (now shared with
Lyell Creek). She then won three of her next four starts including
the Australasian Trotters Championship from 60 metres behind and
the EB Cochran Cup. That was her last start in Australia on 13th
April 1985 and the last time the home town crowd would see her.
The 1984/85 season performances of Scotch Notch, with sixteen wins
and two placings plus one time trial and life time earnings of $334,856,
brought the mare to the attention of the management of The Meadowlands
track in New York. They were conducting the Statue of Liberty Trotting
Series over two nights in June that year as an Invitation event
and twelve of the best trotters from USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia
and Australia were invited.
The target field included Meadow Road (Sweden), Mon Tourbillon and
Minou du Donjon (France), Garland Lobell (Canada), Manfred Hanover,
Babe Cosmos and Sandy Bowl (USA), Ellizar H (Denmark), Rosalind’s
Guy (Finland), Toyota Moulin (Norway), Star of Goldstar (Netherlands)
and Scotch Notch (Australia).
Accepting the invitation, trainer/driver Graeme Lang and owner Jim
Wong and families headed for New York apprehensive of their mare’s
chances against the best trotters in the world but willing to give
it a go. Scotch Notch was transported to US trainer/driver Mike
Gagliardi’s farm and stables at Lakewood, some 75 kilometres from
The Meadowlands track in New Jersey and close to the City of New
York.
Coming down with a virus it was touch and go whether the mare would
be fit to race. Drawing seven in the $135,000 first of the series
on June 17 Scotch Notch was a long way back in tenth position but
closed well for 6th position at the end to the Swedish entry Meadow
Road who ran 2:57.6 for the 12 furlongs race.
Barrier one was drawn by Scotch Notch in the second race over one
mile and raced in the midfield until making up ground in the run
home to finish 4th in the $185,000 event. This was again won by
Meadow Road who at this stage of his career was unbeatable trotting
the mile in 1:54.4. Mon Tourbillon the French trotter ran consistently
for a 2nd and 3rd in the series.
Staying over to race at The Meadowlands, Graeme Lang and Scotch
Notch competed in six races for five seconds including four to Manfred
Hanover, one of the US entries in the Statue of Liberty Trotting
Series.
Graeme Lang and Jim Wong then returned to Australia, leaving Scotch
Notch with US trainer/driver Mike Gagliardi who managed the racing
of the mare for the rest of her career in USA. For the balance of
1985 Scotch Notch raced at The Meadowlands, Garden State Raceway,
Roosevelt and Yonkers for five wins, her best time being 1:57.2.
Her USA record for 1985 reads 16 starts-5 wins-7 placings for $USD116,050.
Scotch Notch’s best win this season was on February 14, 1986 when
she beat the champion mare Grades Singing in an Invitation event.
In 1986 and 1987 Scotch Notch had a total of 44 starts for 13 wins
and 17 placings, winning $USD219,849.
Overall Scotch Notch’s lifetime statistics and earnings were as
follows:-
| |
Starts |
Wins |
Placings |
Prizemoney |
| Australia |
66 |
43 |
14 |
$249,091 |
| New Zealand |
7 |
4 |
3 |
$85,765 |
| USA |
60 |
18 |
21 |
$335,899 |
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| Totals |
133 |
65 |
38 |
$670,755 |
Scotch Notch had her last race at Freehold Raceway on November 6,
1987, winning in 2:02.4 and was then retired. In 1988, she was put
in foal to the world’s leading trotting sire Speedy Crown, and she
and her colt foal were shipped to Melbourne in 1989. However, life
in the horse world is not always easy, and Scotch Notch died in
1990 without any further foals to perpetuate her history.
Her Speedy Crown colt of 1989 was named Speedy Scotch and was not
raced. First used at stud as a two year old in 1991, Speedy Scotch
sired seventy five foals between 1992 to 1995 for twenty winners,
the best of whom was Melancholy Comment Tr.2:00.8. But, as if to
confirm that destiny had decreed that the maternal line from Scotch
Notch was not to be perpetuated, Speedy Scotch died in 1995.
major races/honours won by
SCOTCH NOTCH in Australia and New Zealand |
| 3YO |
1981 Trotters Oaks |
| 4YO |
1982 Time Trial TT2:01.4 Geelong Victoria |
|
5YO |
1982 Tasman Cup Kilmore Victoria |
| 1983 Australasian Trotting Championship Heats (2) Moonee
Valley (Group 1) |
| 1983 VL Dullard Cup Moonee Valley (Group 1) |
| 1983 EB Cochran Cup Moonee Valley (Group 1) |
| 1983 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Heat (1) Auckland
NZ |
| 1983 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Grand Final
Auckland NZ (Group 1) |
| 1983 Time Trial TT1:58.3 & TT1:58.6 Geelong Victoria |
| 6YO
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1983 Dominion Trotting Handicap Christchurch NZ (Group
1) |
| 1984 Inter Dominion Trotters Championship Heats (2)
Adelaide South Australia (Group 1) |
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7YO |
1984 FFA Trot 1.59.1 Moonee Valley |
| 1985 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Heat (1) |
| 1985 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Grand Final
Moonee Valley (Group 1) |
| 1985 Time Trial TT1:55.6 Moonee Valley |
| 1985 Australasian Trotting Championship Moonee Valley
(Group 1) |
| 1985 EB Cochran Cup Moonee Valley (Group 1) |
| 1985 Chris Howe Cup Moonee Valley (Group 1) |
| HONOURS
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Vancleve award (3) 1983, 1984, 1985 |
| Leading Stakeswinner (trotter - Australia) 1983, 1985 |
| seasonal career in australia & new zealand |
| AGE |
STARTS |
WINS |
PLACINGS |
STAKEMONEY |
BEST TIME |
| 3 |
9 |
2 |
4 |
$8,125 |
2:08.6 |
| 4 |
13 |
11 |
1 |
$22,504 |
TT2:01.4 |
| 5 |
17 |
12 |
4 |
$107,133 |
TT1:58.3 |
| 6 |
12 |
6 |
6 |
$72,898 |
2:02.3 |
| 7 |
22 |
16 |
2 |
$124,196 |
TT1:55.6 |
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73 |
47 |
17 |
$334,856 |
TT1:55.6 |
| race footage |
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1983 Trotting Final
Race footage courtesy Mike Dickinson |
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1985 Trotting Final
Race footage courtesy Mike Dickinson |
| pedigree |
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Pedigree - Scotch Notch |
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