The Spectacular Belle
by Lisa Harkema
Widely expected to be one of the first 2:00 trotters, Axworthy’s most spectacular daughter was nearly invincible at her best. The fastest mare in history at that point, she passed early and has largely slipped into oblivion. Hamburg Belle’s legacy deserves much better, however.
Sallie Simmons (often referred to as “Sally Simmons”) had shown tremendous speed in her time. At 2 her owners, who had bought the mare from breeder George Agniel in Princeton, IN, had spent all season trying to break her to no avail. According to one newspaper, the following year Bert Shank was hired as a trainer by the Rumbargers and according to the Indianapolis News, “he conquered the fast filly and made her what she is, but it was not until after he had received many hard knocks. Shank was possessed of about as much obstinacy as the filly, and Sallie soon took a sensible view of this fact.”
With that out of the way, Sallie Simmons was all trot and became “one of the best behaved campaigners on the Grand Circuit” as a four-year-old in 1894. After she had beat Roseleaf in the 2:20 four-year-old trot at Rochester on Aug 15, the latter’s owner Major Samuel T Dickinson shelled out $7,500 to acquire Sallie Simmons. He then had a formidable pair of four-year-old mares, and on Sep 27 the duo set a team world record to wagon, trotting in 2:15 1/4 (1.24,1) at Columbus. On her own, Sallie Simmons trotted to a very respectable 2:13 1/4 (1.22,8) clocking in one of her many wins that year. Not racing on the Grand Circuit after the 1894 season, Dickinson nevertheless “drove Sallie Simmons a half in Fleetwood at 1:06 1/2” shortly before his death in late 1896. She was then sold by Dickinson’s estate to Edward T Bedford, an early executive for Standard Oil, for $3,500 and used as a roadster in team with Gillette 2 11 3/4 (1.21,9). The pair broke the record for a road wagon on a half-mile track when going 2:21 (1.27,6) at the Parkway Driving Club in Brooklyn on May 15, 1897.