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Hall Of Fame - Soft Music
Original article written by Danny Warren posted 12 years 2 weeks agoSometimes a horse comes along who immediately catches the attention of all racing fans.
Some are noticed because they are not expected to win, some are noticed for a dominant couple of seasons and some are noticed because of their ability to win against the very best over a period of time.
Then there are others like Soft Music, who has found her way into the SIM Hall of Fame after just a single racing season. Even rarer is that she was a Standardbred Trotter and a look throughout the magnificent structure that encapsulates the Hall of Fame will soon tell you that it’s hard enough for a standardbred to get in at all, let alone one who only raced through a single year.
Soft Music though brought thousands of people through the gates in a time when the standardbreds were considered merely a novelty. Soft Music was a horse who changed opinions, she was one of those rare horses who had the ability to attract crowds and to introduce the world to a division of SIMRacing that some didn’t even know existed.
Owner Happy Trails parted with $5000 for a four year old mare who was such a mystery, that Happy never knew the horse’s parentage and it was unable to be traced. Luckily the tiny bay mare didn’t concern herself with her lineage and instead travelled to Kentucky to begin a whirlwind romance of a career in racing.
Soft Music’s first start saw her line up against six other nervous trotter mares but as Happy watched on in stunned amazement, Soft Music ran straight to the front and never looked like being headed, before kicking away just before the turn and running off to a four and a half length win, with the other runners all in a very spread line.
Happy needed more convincing yet as to her credentials, so Soft Music travelled to New Jersey to contest a NW2. Here Soft Music had just two opponents and she toyed with them to tear over the mile without any pressure to win by nearly seven lengths. This still left Happy with the question of whether Soft Music was a bona fide top liner of whether she had just been lucky with the fields she’d been meeting.
Happy needed to know, so to great fanfare and some neat promotion to draw a sizable crowd, he sponsored a NW3 race in Kentucky and invited the trotting SIMWorld to challenge his little girl. Only three answered the call, but the people came. Amongst the challengers was Flour Flowers who was also unbeaten in her two races and the two put up a great show. Soft Music stuck to the fence with Flour Flowers right next to her all the way while the other two floundered in their wake. With neither mare flinching, the crowds rose to feet and it wasn’t until the last ¼ furlong that Soft Music drew away to win an enthralling race by a length.
Now Happy had the feeling that Soft Music was no ordinary racehorse and decided that the time had come to test her in a stakes race. Another trip to New Jersey for the sweet natured mare had her in familiar surroundings for the New World Ladies Mile and this time it was obvious that this should be a stern test. Moni Makers, Old Gal and Empirical all had wins and placings filling their form cards, while Junebug O’keeffe was unbeaten in three starts. Soft Music again was quickly away with Emperical working hard on her outside to keep her head in front. Junebug O’keeffe fought with her driver as she wanted to run and her driver wanted to try and sit just off the two leaders. Empirical couldn’t find anything when Soft Music quickened and while Junebug O’keeffe tried to find a way around Empirical, Soft Music shot away for the win.
Now there were people beginning to talk about harness racing and with the help of some clever advertising, a massive crowd poured into The Meadowfields in New Jersey for the Meadowfields Distaff with Flour Flowers joining up with Junebug O’keeffe, Empirical, Old Gal and Briar Madrigal to try and bring Soft Music’s unbeaten run to an end.
There were some gasps from the crowds when the race began with Old Gal and Empirical fighting for the lead early, instead of the expected early dash of Soft Music. Instead Soft music found herself behind the leader on the fence with Junebug O’keeffe on her outside, boxing her in. Just before the turn it looked as if all hope was lost as Flour Flowers took off around the outside and Old Gal began to drop back, giving Soft Music nowhere to go, but somehow a split opened and Soft Music dove through and flew past Junebug O’keeffe. Flour Flowers looked set for a shock win, but little Soft Music put in a supreme effort to catch up and then pass in time to win her 5th race in a row and returned to a great reception from the appreciative crowd.
The Meadowfields Trotting Association then set up the Running Sea Trot to try and get a repeat of such a great race and were overjoyed when Soft Music and Flour Flowers again headed the entries. Junebug O’keeffe was sent to build up for the Steward’s Crown away from Soft Music. Flour Flowers tried to make the pace throughout the race, but it made little difference and Soft Music breezed past to win easily.
The Steward’s Crown Distaff Trot was sad in the sense that each and every mare running would never race again and with SIMTV camera’s at a harness racing meeting for the first time in SIMHistory, the Distaff was billed to be a major highlight. The question of whether Soft Music could finish her career unbeaten was on everyone’s lips and a very nervous Happy Trails paced up and down the owners lawn as the race counted down to start time. Flour Flowers and Junebug O’keeffe seemed the main rivals amongst the five opponents. Flour Flowers took off to lead early at a steady pace, this time with Soft Music on her outside. Junebug O’keeffe was sitting back for a final charge to the line. Flour Flowers clearly didn’t enjoy having Soft Music around her and ran wide at every turn, pushing Soft Music even deeper. Soft Music straightened up for the run to the line and took off like a rocket. Flour Flowers tried to keep up, but couldn’t and Junebug O’keeffe couldn’t make up the ground and a trotting legend was born as Soft Music cruised over the line to finish her racing career seven starts, seven wins, with Happy Trails turning cartwheels of joy to the clicks of the cameras.
Soft Music retired with $362,000 in prize money and has enjoyed her retirement on Kentucky’s green fields. Her best foal has been Money and Music, who won $410,300 before going to stud himself.
Soft Music was the shooting star of harness racing in it’s early days and like a shooting star, her talents blazed and shone to the amazement of those who saw her, but then sadly she was gone, with only the memory of a tiny bay mare who was so gentle that she used to turn her head into Happy Trails arms while being such a livewire on the track, left to remind everyone of harness racing’s first genuine superstar.