The flying Frisian

Her breeders bought a mare they didn’t really want at auction, and didn’t even know she was in foal to an unpopular sire. The resulting filly was stubborn and difficult to break. However, when she first started trotting, the filly did nothing else – and usually faster than everybody else. From humble beginnings in the north of Netherlands, Action Skoatter gained worldwide recognition in the 1988 Elitlopp for both her looks and her whirlwind speed.

Born on the first of June 1983, Action Skoatter made her debut in august as a 2-year-old and and in eight starts she won four and was third three times. The following year the roan filly firmly established herself as queen of the Dutch crop, going 17-2-1 in 22 starts for her breeder-owners Eelke Kruis and Evert Gaastra. One race at 3 where she did not do well, though, was the Dutch Derby. Contested over the longer distance of 2600 meters (1 10/16 mile), the distance did not suit the filly. Over shorter distances, however, Action Skoatter, was nearly unbeatable. Later that year she set a Dutch record for 3-year-olds with 1.15,1 (2:00.4f) and started a run of wins that would not end until she had 17 consecutive ones. 4 years earlier, on Oct 18, 1982, Kruis and Gaastra had attended the dispersal auction of Joop Schoonderwoerd’s trotting holdings. The auction had an uncommon and peculiar feature, that the underbidder on each item got some money. This encouraged more bidding and drove up the prices a little. Kruis and Gaastra had already been successful underbidders several times when Miss Dartel was offered for sale. Hoping to drive up the price, but still be the underbidder and get some money, they put in a bid of 4,000 guilder/€ 1,815/$ 2,000. To the duo’s surprise, nobody put in a higher bid. Thus they found themselves with a mare, Miss Dartel, that they didn’t really want – and completely unaware she was in foal. The mare was an unspectacular trotter with a 1:20 (2:08.4f) record, and wasn’t considered a great broodmare prospect, either.

Her sire, Gallant Prince, was a decent racehorse in the US before exported to the Netherlands. He had won the 1970 Tompkins Memorial and Matron Stakes for Stanley Dancer, finished 7-15-5 in the 3 heats of the Hambletonian the same year, and was later imported to the Netherlands by Joop Schoonderwoerd, also the previous owner of Miss Dartel, where he was a fairly good stallion. However, he produced some difficult foals and Action Skoatter was no different. When they first hitched her to a sulky Action Skoatter responded by laying down and refusing to get up. They knew she could trot, though, as she would do nothing but trot – and trot fast – when alone in the field. 40 years later, her groom Bianca Hulleman still vividly remembers the extremely stubborn mare: “I was at Eelke Kruis’ stable from 1981 to 1992, first as a hobby every day after school, so I knew Action from the beginning. She was feisty and stubborn, and wasn’t very social with other horses, either. Her best, and loyal, friend was the gelding Uno Skoatter. He always adapted to her mood. If she wanted to play or cuddle, he would join in – but if the queen didn’t feel like it he left her alone.” With a bit of determination Eelke Cross managed to rid the roan filly of the habit of laying down and she was put in the training of young Appie Bosscha. Since he didn’t have his own license at first, Tjitse Smeding and then Fedde Bosscha were listed as her official trainer.

Robbing the Germans

At 4, Action Skoatter took her dominance to new heights, winning 19 times in 21 starts, setting a Dutch record and numerous track records in the process. Her biggest win of the year would not come on Dutch soil, however, but in the German race Greyhound-Rennen for 4-year-olds in Mönchengladbach. For the first time, Action Skoatter met the German star Every Way, who had won the European Championship for 3-year-olds the previous year and was pretty much considered unbeatable. With her enormous burst of speed, however, Action Skoatter easily took the lead. Every Way was forced to trot the outside. Despite trying his best, and pushing the filly throughout the race, Every Way faded down the final stretch and Appie Bosscha celebrated passionately in the sulky as they crossed the line. A large group of fans had taken the trip from the Netherlands and returned not only high on the win, but also considerably richer. Almost all German money had been bet on Every Way, which forced the odds on the filly up. Alvin Schockemöhle, the owner of Every Way, responded by immediately putting in a bid for Action Skoatter, rumored to be in the region of 700,000 Dutch guilders (€ 317,646), which was immediately rejected.

The Greyhound-Rennen was not the only highlight of her very impressive 4-year-old season. Despite being the only 4-year-old in the race, Action Skoatter easily won the Dutch Championship, and lowered the race record by two full seconds in the process, winning in 1.16,2 (2:02.3f) over 2600 meters (1 10/16 mile). Later that year, in September, the roan mare would lower the record for fastest mile in Holland by winning the Sprintkampioenschap (Sprint Championship) in Hilversum in 1.13,5 (1:58.1). In October she was back at Hilversum where she won her elimination to the Prijs der Giganten. Her many fans, who had filled 30 busses from Northern Netherlands, saw Grades Singing, possibly the best older filly in the world at the time, win by a length over the filly they affectionally knew as “Us Action”.

Securing immortality in Sweden

Every horse has a nickname or two, and Action Skoatter was no different. Hailing from the Friesland province of the Netherlands, she was most commonly referred to as “de Vliegende Friezin”, the Flying Frisian, in her home country. But Friesland also has its own language, Frisian, in which she was simply known as “Us Action”, meaning “Our Action”. But in Scandinavia, however, she got the nickname “The Flying Dutchman”, a nickname never given to her in the Netherlands (!)

The Scandinavian nickname originates from her performance in the 1988 Elitlopp as a 5-year-old. Being an unknown quantity against world stars, her odds was almost 41 to win in her elimination. However, she shocked the Swedish crowd by forcing Pay Nibs to a 1:06 opening (26.4 first quarter), while favorites Sugarcane Hanover and Napoletano both made huge breaks. According to Hulleman, this kind of insane opening speed reflected Action Skoatter’s was a reflection of the mare’s personality. “Her stubborn character was strongly reflected in the races. She always hung on to the starting car and wanted to leave as quickly as possible, then she refused to be controlled. That made her great and special, but sometimes she also paid the price, such as in the Elitlopp,” she points out.

Us Action’s extreme opening speed in the Elitlopp elimination indeed rebounded on her, and while Sugarcane Hanover and Napoletano came back to win, the Dutch mare faded toward the end. Us Action still managed to finish fourth and got the last spot in the final. There the Dutch mare, leaving from post 8, had no chance of getting around Mack Lobell, who left from post 1, and was forced to run outside of the leader. Toward the last turn Action Skoatter faded badly and she finished dead last well behind the rest of the field. Despite this, the roan mare got a vast number of Scandinavian fans. “What I remember most about the Elitlopp is the atmosphere and the tension building up towards the race. Because of her coat color it was always difficult for me to train her on the track without drawing plenty of attention. She was always noticed immediately and everyone came over to look at her right away. Action really had a lot fans there! I will never forget the enthusiasm of the audience when presenting the horses and the sound waves that went over the stands. She did not win, but everyone was talking about her start of 1.06,” says Hulleman.

Dominant at home

Back home in the Netherlands she won almost everything that year, finishing the year 21-3-3 in 33 starts overall. Action Skoatter suffered a few minor disappointments, two of them being a third place in the Dutch Championship and a fourth place finish in the Prijs der Giganten, behind Friendly Face, Quartz and Park Ridge Lobell, after again winning her elimination. Her best performance was probably in the European Championship for 5-year-olds in Gelsenkirchen where she finished second behind the Swedish trotter Piper Cub.

At 6, Us Action struggled a bit with an injury in the gluteal muscles, but she still managed to start 10 times, picking up 5 wins in the process. As a result, she was put on a special diet (“de Action-brok”, “the Action diet”) designed by nutritionist Aize Soeten. This helped the mare fully rebound the following year, where she posted a 17-8-3 season in 32 starts. That year she won the Sprintkampioenschap van Alkmaar (the Alkmaar Sprint Championship) and set a new track record in the process, Sprintkampioenschap van Nederland (the Dutch Sprint Championship), het Kampioenschap van Friesland (the Friesland Championship), and het Wintersprintkampioenschap (the Winter Sprint Championship). She also finished second in the Prijs der Giganten, again losing to third-time winner Friendly Face. During the year she also passed Kees Verkerk as the winningest Dutch trotter.

Us Action started the 1991 season well, going 7-3-0 in 14 starts, including wins in Sprintkampioenschap van Alkmaar (the Alkmaar Sprint Championship) and the Willem H. Geersenprijs until she sustained an injury in May. It sidelined her for a full 18 months. It was not until November 1992 before she returned to the track with a win at Wolvega. She only made three more starts as a 9-year-old but ended 1992 with 1-1-1 in 4 starts.

The swansong

At this point her career would normally end as Dutch age limits meant the mare was too old to compete. But every now and then rules are bent to accomodate stars – and in the Netherlands, Action Skoatter was a superstar. So the Dutch association simply changed the rules to allow Us Action to keep competing. The roan filly only made 3 starts as a 10-year-old, however, but still managed to win the Grote Sterrensprintersprijs (Big Star’s Sprint Prize) at Wolvega. However, on May 9th 1993 it was all over as Action Skoatter started in her last race.

She finished her career as the fastest and winningest Dutch trotter, and she lowered the track and/or race record on 35 occasions – not bad for a foal they did not even knew they had when they bought Miss Dartel at auction. As a broodmare, Action Skoatter had six foals. The first, Maestro Skoatter, born 1995, by Harmonious, was killed in an accident only one week old. The following year a roan colt, Naction Skoatter, by Giant Chill, was born. At the 1997 Unitrot yearling auction, the colt was the sales topper with a price of 126,000 guilder (€ 57,176/$ 62,000). Naction Skoatter did reasonably well on the track, with a record of 1.15,4 and € 78,515 (2:01.2f and $ 85,000) in earnings. In 2000, the four-year-old Naction Skoatter, driven by Appie Bosscha, won the Derby der Vierjaringen (4-year-old Derby – while the regular Dutch Derby is for three-year-olds). Then followed four foals, three of whom started but none that showed much talent on the track.

Us Action died in early February 2011, 28 years old.

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