HURRICANE (GB) p, 2.12 Air Lad - Princess Maud (1939 -1971) was the dominant pacing racehorse of his generation and lives on in the pedigrees of the speedy sorts (on average 100 lengths better over a mile than their patriarch) that grace Irish and British tracks to this day.

He was bred, trained and owned in Scotland.

Scottish afficionado Bernard McGovern has compiled a few paragraphs on Hurricane for the British Harness Racing Club Hall of Fame. A simple post by Bernie on social media recently threw up dozens of responses and became the genesis for this biography.

As in Ireland, harness racing in Britain has only ever thrived in certain ‘pockets’. North Wales, Mid-Wales, Scotland and a belt from Cumbria in the west to York and Durham in the east are the heartlands.

The sport has all but died south of Watford, although a few hardy souls travel at least four hours to their nearest meetings.

Your correspondent has been fortunate enough to have raced, spectated or made a book in all these regions. Of course, tribal loyalty dictates that I must say the Irish are the keenest trotting men of them all!

However, the Scots harness racers must surely match any region for sheer enthusiasm. The 726-yard track at Corbie Wood, Bannockburn was a tinderbox of emotion.

The cheers as a backmarker cut through the field would waken William Wallace, who is rumoured to be buried at nearby Cambuskenneth.

Corbie Wood fell to so-called progress and will soon be an area of housing. The lowland Scots now race on grass at Haugh Field, closer to Bannockburn. For a visitor to remark in the bar that he would buy ‘a sound horse to go round Haugh Field in around 2.14’ is the equivalent of saying that he is “looking for something that will stay three miles and can jump” in rural Cork.

Our visitor will get a tour of the Carse of Stirling, the flood plain of the River Forth. Stables can range from Southfork-style ranches to set ups, which resemble a pigeon loft, but a battle-hardened pacer will be found in the region.

It is against this backdrop of knowledge of harness racing that we look back on Hurricane. He is revered in Scotland, much like how in Ireland we still talk about ‘Himself’ AKA Arkle.

Even in the 1940s, harness racing was a poor relation to the Sport of Kings. Were harness racing more popular, Hurricane would have been celebrated in the manner of Cardigan Bay in New Zealand or Hambletonian in the USA.

A little-known fact is that the British champion came to Ireland to race, as we shall discuss.

Early days and pedigree

Hurricane was bred by Stuart Wilson at Skinflats Farm, Broxburn. His pedigree was unusual for that era, in that it contains American blood on top and bottom line. Remember that to import a ‘pure-bred Yank‘ in those days involved at least one 14-day Atlantic crossing for horse and buyer.

Hurricane was by Air Lad out of Princess Maud. Air Lad was in turn by Airman. Modern day breeder, Hugh O’Neill confirms that Airman stood at Stanraer, a stone’s throw from Larne, and was ‘quite a celebrity in his day, he got all sorts of mares’.

Young Hurricane leads the field at Turriff Highland Games in Aberdeenshire

Hurricane was owned for his entire racing career by Tom (Tam) Inglis from Sauchenford near Stirling. Tam’s granddaughter Nancy Goodwillie (now 72) is a mine of information about this foundation sire of UK harness racing.

Payment of debt

“We did not own the horse initially,” explains Nancy, “my grandfather was training him for another man. The owner ran up a training bill and there was a court case. The judge found in Tam’s favour and he was allowed to keep Hurricane in payment of the debt.”

Nancy goes on: “We have photos and trophies inscribed, ‘Overall British Champion‘. Former British Harness Racing Club chairman, Gordon Garnett, says the horse was ’virtually unbeatable in his day’.

Hurricane frequently gave ‘30 seconds’ start to the other runners under the old ‘countdown’ system of handicapping, long before the invention of the mobile starting gate.

Hurricane at home track Hurricane and Bobby Inglis harnessed for action

Tam’s son Bobby Inglis often drove the horse. In those days, Scotland was full of Highland Games/gymkhanas where trotting would be held as the sports field was cleared. The small tracks and the abundance of tough little jockeys meant that many saddle races were held.

Hurricane’s most common rider was ‘Dot’ Dawson, so-called because of his tiny build.

“If Peter (Hurricane’s stable name) was worked in the saddle over a good growth of grass, the jockey would come in with his boots stained green, that’s how well he got down to corner,” says Nancy.

Actual race records from the pre-1968 era are almost non-existent, but there are many anecdotes from old-timers or their families about the black stallion winning off punitive trails at tracks, such as Appleby.

He raced in a 60” hobble measurement, which is a sign of a long stride, as he was a compact 15.3hh.

It is most likely that his lifetime mark of 2.12 was ‘calculated’ by subtracting his handicap mark from the winning time at Stepps, a cinder track in Glasgow.

Hurricane, long since retired, was paraded at Appleby Trot at around 20 years of age. The horse lived out his days with the Inglis family and is buried at The Holdings, Sauchenford.

Irish foray

Ireland was a hot bed of harness racing in the post-war years. Competitive racing was held at various tracks including Ballymena and Raheny, Dublin, which benefitted from proximity to the train line for both spectators and horses.

Nancy Goodwillie confirms that Hurricane was stabled in Ballymena. Our photo of a smartly dressed Tam Inglis with horse, groom and entourage appeared in The Irish Press of the day challenging Silver Jubliee in a match at the North Dublin venue.

Thomas Inglis, owner of Hurricane, challenge Silver Jubilee to a match over one mile at Raheny

Nancy had an interesting aside. “At the time, ladies’ nylons (tights) were hard to come by, so they used to smuggle them back into Britain below Hurricane’s travelling rug.”

The photo of Hurricane with a young boy on his back is previously unpublished and is a priceless piece of harness memorabilia. It shows old-time trotting grandee Barney Ross of Belfast holding Hurricane, with his son Harry up.

Harry Ross grew up to be one of the most talented drivers of his generation. He died tragically young at the age of 48 in 1978.

Note the ‘hand holds’ resting on the horse’s neck to help the young pilot to hold the pacer, and the over-check rein on his neck to keep the horse balanced.

There is evidence that Harry Ross rode Hurricane in races in this country.

Incidentally, one elderly source believes that a certain stable hand, who minded Hurricane in Ireland, had a nice sideline covering mares for all and sundry.

In the days before DNA testing and microchipping, all sorts of moves went on. Whether Thomas Inglis was made aware of Hurricane’s busy love life is a matter for conjecture!

The legacy

Contemporaries of Hurricane recalled that he had a lovely placid temperament and could travel with mares or geldings alike. Strangely, one of his early foals was Young Hurricane, a notorious biter. Nancy Goodwillie explained that Young Hurricane’s nickname was The Black Damp.

The Black Damp was a kind of odourless gas, which arose in the coal pits and was harmful to miners. Not the most complimentary of nicknames!

In a more favourable light, Hurricane became a tremendous foundation sire. When crossed with Don Hanover, he produced Golden Rose, who is remembered as one of the greatest pacers ever in Scotland.

Nancy Goodwillie recalls: “He threw a definitive stamp of a horse, usually a nice specimen.”

Hurricane’s daughter Miss World (foaled in 1960) also produced the Eastwood line of horses for Sam Ballantyne of Lanarkshire.

When Ballantyne emigrated to New Zealand, the Maw family bought Eastwood Marigold, a daughter of Miss World and she became the anchor mare for Coalford Stud, whose progeny regularly feature in these pages.

Broodmare sire

David Wilson, currently an agent for leading makes of sulkies and an authority on breeding, contends that Hurricane’s son Gaytime became an important broodmare sire. The Gaytime line leads us to the Monkroyd Mystery dam of the great Stoneriggs Mystery.

Gaytime was also the broodmare sire of The Saddler, who clocked 1.54 in the US, when such a time was big news.

Missing Link, one of the first British horses to break the two-minute barrier is from the Hurricane family, as was Kathleens Decision, who ruled the track at Manchester.

Hurricane’s son Cheerio stood at stud with K Lamplough of Hartlepool for many years. Several of his ‘Mayfields’ progeny came to Ireland. Mayfields Speed and Mayfields Magic typified the genuine racehorses that the Hurricane line produced. Mayfields Speed closely resembled the few photographs of his grand sire.

A daughter of Hurricane, namely Farewell became the foundation mare for Norman Brown of Belfast. His ‘Rosehall Stud’ was the prestige breeder in Ireland in the 1970s.

Around the year 2000, the Musselburgh Fair Day committee renamed their lower grade pace ‘The Hurricane Pace’. The trophy has been won by Coleraine’s Walter Stewart with Coalford Western and Murdock brothers of Belfast with Blackwell Rambo.

Thanks go to the various Scottish and Irish sources who provided information. Eighty-five years after the birth of Hurricane, Tom Inglis’s great-grandson Brett Goodwillie, son of Nancy is looking forward to next season with Rhyds Shady Affair, who he recently bought from the Kanes in Meath. As the song says, “the circle goes unbroken”.