1980 Hunter Cup harness race (Pure Steel)

[@monikasaringer1152]

Fantastic race, fantastic horses, Steelo was my idol as a kid, i had a scrapbook of him with every news article on him i could find, then in my early 20s my boyfriend threw it out accidentally, I met Steelo at the Orange Grove Pony club when he was special guest, got to pat him, trod in his poo, loved that horse!

[@clarkelaidlaw1678]

loved the competitive racing when those champs were all racing each other..pure steel,koala king,pale face Adios,markovina,don't retreat.Gammalite,Popuar Alm.Rip van winkle...Best horse I ever saw was Minor Derby..raced at Wayville Showgrounds in South Aust.in the late 40',and fifties.he would gallop at the start and give the others 60..70 yard start,then travel three wide for 2 laps after catching the field,and still be in the finish..because there were only standing starts in those days,each win was penalised 12 yard handicap.i was a young boy,but I recall seeing grown men cry the night he started from 96 yard handicap in the fast class,galloped badly at barrier release,and still won the race..he was not a big horse and rather plain looking.there was nothing special about his gait,,but had mobile barriers been available he would have been pretty much unbeatable,.without doubt he could have matched it with the mighty New Zealander Caduceus..if you ever go to Globe Derby in SA,pop in to the harness racing Museum,and check out the story and photos of my boyhood hero,who didn't know that there was such a thing as,'This is going to be too hard'

[@bgardiner3354]

Clarke Laidlaw thanks Clarke I certainly will look him up. You’ve obviously got a few years in me but my childhood hero was Village Kid... in his 5-7 yo seasons he was nigh on invincible.

[@npg68]

I went to Wayville a couple of years ago when they held a meeting there - such a tight turning track - anything that could start off a handicap and mow them down must have been a special horse. My old man who's 82 now, used to go to Wayville all the time back in his day. I'll have to ask him about Minor Derby.

[@neilduff5918]

Steelo''s gutz and determination and will to win won him many big race wins. Shown here doing all the above to pull off an amazing gutzy win. All credit to the horse! A True Champion.

[@beauvearing8450]

My thoughts exactly! Great champion pure steel, didn't matter where he was, always put in a gutzy effort, and I would have backed 🐨 👑 for sure! Cheers 🍻

[@gregjay3663]

Pure Steel Frankel Maoris Idol Popular Arm Kingston Town... The best horses ever in my book.

[@filipina5953]

Greg Jay - That my Friend is a Very Well put together List! 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

[@beauvearing8450]

God, I'm starting to think 💭 that I'm, "back there!!" was 18-19 at the time, bloody fantastic days 🎉 cheers 🍻

[@marknorris1381]

Surprising run from Paleface Adios. Gave in pretty quickly.

[@brianjschumer]

Alan..if you look closer, hitting the sulky shafts to make noise is perfectly legal..This amazing animal Pure Steel was loved and never abused..

[@markhobson5769]

RIP Clem Dimsey (1941-2015) & Michael Williamson (1928-2019).

[@peterwhelan6144]

Great win by Pure Steel , but fantastic finish by Brad Adios making up a huge amount of ground . A wonderful sport in the old days ( in my case 60s , 70s )

[@paulscudds8474]

Pure Steel is still the greatest of them all, even up till 2020. There have been many outstanding horses since and it could all be debated for hours but it's Steelo for me. I believe a Victorian horse named Ride High, sidelined at the moment, is on track to be the next Pure Steel.

[@rubiconnz1754]

Penthouse Club - incredible footage

[@brianjschumer]

1980..winner take all..Pure Steel, Satinover, Paleface Adios, Koala King..vs. U.S.A..Niatross, Storm Damage. Tyler B, Ghengis Kahn.. Not a bad race..

[@parkerbohnn]

Remember Ghengis Cohen of course Jewish owned? Storm Damage hasn't given up the fight yet, he can't catch the super horse. Niatross would have to spot Steel Wool around 10 to 15 lengths in the same year.

[@parkerbohnn]

Both the sire and dam of Steel Wool were both a tub a shit! Take a look at a real horse Keystone Wallis out of the dam Steel Wool. www.allbreedpedigree.com/keystone+wallis

[@brianjschumer]

parkerbohnn I'm not sure what your talking about, maybe it makes sense to someone?..I'm talking about how in 1980, ANZ racing and in the USA..two Super horses where going, (Steelo and Niatross)and they had a bunch of nice racemates as well. I'm just sorry Pure Steel never made it to the States, I know they had talked about it.

[@filipina5953]

parkerbohnn - Here is “The Tub Of Shit” Himself, On yet ANOTHER Thread, professing to be The No.1 Authority on “World Pacing” BUT Yet Again, IGNORANTLY REFUSES to Recognize that there is also a Southern Hemisphere where Pacing has been conducted for as long as anybody cares to remember. So until such time as you have some CONCRETE EVIDENCE (Unlike Your Hugely BiasThought Process) to support your TRIVIAL BELIEFS, as to why the Best Pacers only Live and Race in the Northern Hemisphere, I think you should have a Long/Hard (As it unquestionably appears that your Elementary Education Is/Was) look in the Mirror, and let everyone here on this Thread here, know, WHAT YOU SEE! 😘

[@TravisAbraham-t8e]

What a champion horse

[@davidhounslow7845]

Named appropriately :) so few horses have such a will to win and thats the difference between Champions and the also rains.

[@marka1142]

Pretty sure Steelo gave Koala King a mouthful just after they crossed the line. Had every right to as well.

[@bgardiner3354]

Super star

[@youarehere.]

I loved this era but looking back now, my god did they flog those horses with the whip. Look at third place getter Margaret Shannon. Belted by the driver with all his might.

[@bgardiner3354]

I wonder how acceptable today's whip rules will be in 30 years ?

[@Boozoobajou1]

No accolades for that drive Demmler was driving a champion horse simple as that....and that whip action!

[@kidmillion2552]

The left hand

[@supreme_alan]

people need to get over the use of the whip ! the horses that are racing now are weak & the drivers cannot sit on ! don't get me started on the sprint lane what a joke the sport has become !

[@TheMicturation]

what a horse

[@gregjay1537]

A Pure Legend the likes of which have long vanished under the onslaught of sweat shop outsourcing and stagnant wages in the advanced countries due to the negative changes induced in the structure of employment.

[@nickhanlon9331]

Yes. I think of all those standardbreds that have come from China, Vietnam and Bnagladesh.