The mythical kick
by Lisa Harkema
When Juhani Lagerstam started the Laukko trotting stud farm at Vesilahti in Finland he needed a few stallions to use on his many broodmares. The first stallion bought was Super Male, a very average stallion, but the second purchase, Choctaw Brave, imported to the land of the thousand lakes in 1981, changed absolutely everything.
Trained by Howard Beissinger, Choctaw Brave was bred by Robert Mumma and owned by his wife and Beissinger’s wife Ann during his US racing career. The same Beissinger-Mumma combination had previously bred, owned and trained Speedy Somolli with great success, and there were reasons to be hopeful for this son of Speedy Crown as well. Choctaw Brave was one of five starters in the first race for 2-year-olds in 1979, and made his debut as early as May 16 that year. In a race with five starters at the Red Mile, Choctaw Brave and Sherry Hanover were sitting last at the three-quarter pole, but at the finish line the Hickory Smoke-daughter won in 2:08.1 (1.19,7), Choctaw Brave narrowly beaten by a head.
Beissinger clearly saw a lot of potential in him at 2. When finishing fifth in the Hickory Pride Trot in June, Beissinger said he had never seen a group of two-year-olds crowd together so much as in that race and added that “It didn’t matter that I was driving the best horse, I just couldn’t find a way out.” Being boxed in meant he had a fresh horse in the Battle of Saratoga five days later, which Choctaw Brave then won comfortably in 2:06.1 (1.18,4).
In the hands of Howard Beissinger, Choctaw Brave also won the John Simpson Stakes, the Hanover-Hempt Stake, Review Futurity and two legs in The Toddler Series at 2, finishing the year 6-7-5 in 24 starts with a mark of 2:01.2 (1.15,5) and earnings of $61,462.
A disappointing season
Choctaw Brave was ranked fourth in the USTA Experimental ratings in 1979 with an expected time of 1:57.3 (1.13,1) at 3. That prediction would prove to be optimistic, though. His 3-year-old season was, in fairness, a disappointment given his early promise as his 24 starts at 3 yielded a 0-2-3 record.
He picked up some money here and there, but usually ended up in the middle of the pack, illustrated by his 4th place finish in the Yonkers Trot, him finishing 5-6 in the 1980 Hambletonian at DuQuoin (won by Burgomeister) and 5-7 in the Kentucky Futurity. The colt then picked up a career-ending hock injury at the end of the season.
Moving to Finland
Covering a few mares in 1981, Beissinger was looking to offload Choctaw Brave cheaply as he didn’t see any big stallion potential or prospects in the US. His performances were not good enough to attract the right kinds of mares and he could no longer race. Choctaw Brave had one thing going for him, though: a really nice pedigree, as he was by Beissinger’s star trotter Speedy Crown. His sister Ahhhh had won the 1978 Merrie Annabelle and his grandam Sprite Rodney was a Matron winner who also finished second in the 1962 Yonkers Trot. Additionally, he was known as a gentle and very well-mannered horse that simply was a joy to handle.