The Queen of Every Racecourse
by Lisa Harkema
She was bought as a bit of a gamble, and let her nerves get the better of her in her European debut. It wouldn’t take long for the mare to be the darling of hew new country, however. Dutch trotting fans adored Speedy Volita, the mare who won a massive 99 wins in her new homeland and became so popular she even got her own song.
When Dutchman Piet Meyn bought the speedy, but unproven, three-year-old filly Speedy Volita in the fall of 1975 he had no idea what a gold ticket he had just bought. He knew she was fast, having trotted 1.14,8 (2:00:2) in a time trial in Lexington as a 2-year-old but she had not been tested against the best in her crop. But under the careful eye of Bruce Nicholls she won 8 out of 14 starts before being exported to Holland as a 3-year-old in the summer of 1975.
In her first European start, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, she did not look like a golden ticket, however. Instead of a typical car starting gate a less common method called a band start (where horses start behind elastic bands) was used and Speedy Volita, sometimes a hothead, lost her cool and caused two false starts, thus being disqualified. She fared no better in her next start but in the third start she demolished the competition, winning by more than 15 lengths. 10 European starts as a three year old produced a 4-1-0 record. The next year, however, it all came together with her going 13-3-3 in 23 starts. Initially in the training of Jan de Leeuw, her owner moved her to young trainer Gerard Gommans in the middle of the season. In October 1976, Speedy Volita she became the fastest 4-year-old in Europe when she won the Prijs der Giganten in 1.14,7 (2:00.1) ahead of Dauga and Clissa.