The Flying Frisian
by Lisa Harkema
Her breeders bought a mare they didn’t really want at auction, and didn’t even know she was in foal to an unpopular sire. The resulting filly was stubborn and difficult to break. However, when she first started trotting, the filly did nothing else – and usually faster than everybody else. From humble beginnings in the north of Netherlands, Action Skoatter gained worldwide recognition in the 1988 Elitlopp for both her looks and her whirlwind speed.
Born on the first of June 1983, Action Skoatter made her debut in august as a 2-year-old and and in eight starts she won four and was third three times. The following year the roan filly firmly established herself as queen of the Dutch crop, going 17-2-1 in 22 starts for her breeder-owners Eelke Kruis and Evert Gaastra. One race at 3 where she did not do well, though, was the Dutch Derby. Contested over the longer distance of 2600 meters (1 10/16 mile), the distance did not suit the filly. Over shorter distances, however, Action Skoatter, was nearly unbeatable. Later that year she set a Dutch record for 3-year-olds with 1.15,1 (2:00.4f) and started a run of wins that would not end until she had 17 consecutive ones. 4 years earlier, on Oct 18, 1982, Kruis and Gaastra had attended the dispersal auction of Joop Schoonderwoerd’s trotting holdings. The auction had an uncommon and peculiar feature, that the underbidder on each item got some money. This encouraged more bidding and drove up the prices a little. Kruis and Gaastra had already been successful underbidders several times when Miss Dartel was offered for sale. Hoping to drive up the price, but still be the underbidder and get some money, they put in a bid of 4,000 guilder/€ 1,815/$ 2,000. To the duo’s surprise, nobody put in a higher bid. Thus they found themselves with a mare, Miss Dartel, that they didn’t really want – and completely unaware she was in foal. The mare was an unspectacular trotter with a 1:20 (2:08.4f) record, and wasn’t considered a great broodmare prospect, either.