Somebeachsomewhere’s narrow defeat to Art Official in the 2008 Meadowlands Pace was perhaps the greatest race in Harness Racing history. At the very least it ranks right up there with Wiggle It Jiggleit’s gutsy 2015 Little Brown Jug win. The thing is, just like in the movie Rocky, there is something about the horse everyone is rooting for losing valiantly that makes the moment all the more special. The strange thing is that I can vividly remember watching Wiggle It Jiggleit win the Jug, visiting him on the backstretch after the race and even writing the race recap. For the life of me, I can’t recall being at The Meadowlands for Somebeachsomewhere’s lone defeat. Maybe it was because I’m getting older and the memories from 10 years ago aren’t quite as clear as those from three years back? When it comes to Somebeachsomewhere, for me, the race that remains ingrained in my head is the $650,000 Messenger Pace at Yonkers Raceway. There are many reasons why. ►Somebeachsomewhere came to Yonkers! For years Yonkers was simply a place for overnight horses and “B” caliber stakes types. Finally we had the best horse in the sport if not in history competing. ►The race was contested in a full-on monsoon. It wasn’t raining, it was pouring; enough that I watched from the paddock and never went to the winner’s circle. ►It was expected to be a true race, with Somebeachsomewhere as the 2-5 favorite versus Little Brown Jug winner Shadow Play at 2-1. ►Despite Shadow Play having a tactical edge from an inside post and setting comfortable fractions, Somebeachsomewhere ranged up uncovered and refused to be defeated as he wore his rival down at the wire. Was the Messenger win as impressive as his 1:46 4/5 world record Bluegrass win at The Red Mile or even the Meadowlands Pace loss? Maybe not, but it allowed us to see another dimension from this great horse. He overcame the adversity of the track conditions, the pace advantage by Shadow Play and a tough trip over the half-mile track. Only a special horse could accomplish that feat. Interestingly, as an aside, Foiled Again, another all-time great who will seek his 100th career win on Saturday night at Yonkers Raceway as he competes as a 14-year-old, won the $100,000 Hudson Valley Invitational one race later on the same card. Getting back to Somebeachsomewhere, his brilliance on the track, where he won 20 of 21 races and earned $3,221,299 while capturing the Dan Patch awards as 2-year-old Pacing Colt of the Year in 2007 and Horse of the Year in 2008, was certainly equaled in the breeding shed at Hanover Shoe Farms. Somebeachsomewhere led all pacing stallions in earnings for both 2016 and 2017. His progeny also topped the earnings list among 2-year-olds in 2015. His average yearling has sold for $81,625 from 2011 through 2017 according to statistics on harnessracing.com. That total places him tens of thousands ahead of his nearest rival. And the average is only rising despite strong competition from first-time stallions like Sweet Lou and Captaintreacherous, a son of Somebeachsomewhere. Which leads us to what could propel his already superior legacy to even new heights – his sons. Captaintreacherous ($3,148,657) will see his first foals hit the track in 2018, and Downbytheseaside ($2,025,528) and Huntsville ($1,704,242) will begin their stallion career this year. If only one of those three comes within arm’s reach of what their dad did in the breeding shed, it will take Somebeachsomewhere’s already stellar reputation to even greater heights. Regardless of what measure used to weigh the accomplishments of Somebeachsomewhere, he comes out at or near the top. He holds the record as the richest single-season 3-year-old pacer in history and is the top ranked (11th overall) horse on the all-time earnings list with two or fewer seasons of racing. He ranks sixth in history with $49,236,837 earned by his 2 and 3-year-old offspring in just six years of opportunity, but far and away first in average earnings per starter at an amazing $140,275. Will we ever see another Somebeachsomewhere? It is hard to imagine, but we can dream.