by Brett Sturman

Harness racing’s all-time win leader, Southwind Amazon is in-to-go tomorrow (Dec. 23) in what could be either his last, or second-to-last career start. Facing mandatory retirement in less than 10 calendar days, the 14-year-old would hit the 400-mark in career starts should he make it to post two more times.

Of course, Southwind Amazon set the sport’s record for wins when he won early in November at Northfield for win number 138. He added another just for good measure when he won last week. Of the 139-and-still-counting wins, here are what I see as his 10 most notable. In date chronological order:

JULY 4, 2012

It was a “warmish-Wednesday at Flamboro Downs” as described in the race call by track announcer Gary Guy to kick off the 8^th race on the card that day, an Ontario Sire Stakes Grassroots that would see Southwind Amazon win his career debut as a 2-year-old for Gregg and Doug McNair. In the race, Southwind Amazon having started from the rail, got away third, quarter-moved to the lead and comfortably led every step from there to a score in 1:56.2. Little did anyone know at the time what the future would hold for 12-and-a-half more years.

 AUG. 13, 2012

Following bad posts in the Battle of Waterloo in his preceding starts, Southwind Amazon made his first start at Mohawk in another Ontario Sire Stake Grassroots race. This time, it was Mike Saftic who picked up the catch drive and piloted Southwind Amazon to a perfect second-over trip to get up in deep stretch establishing a new mark for the freshman in 1:54.4. It would be his only stakes win at that track.

NOV. 15, 2013

In the fall of his 3-year-old season, Southwind Amazon was overlooked as a 25-1 longshot in the first leg of the Autumn Series at Woodbine Racetrack when he pulled the big surprise over the heavy 1-5 favorite that night Thorn In Your Side. Southwind Amazon was able to save ground the entire way until mid-stretch when he tipped out from third and used a :26.3 final quarter to move past the top pair. His win time of 1:52.3 would remain his best until two years later when he’d win four times at Mohawk during the summer of 2015, his best time of which during that run was 1:50.

SEPT. 18, 2017

Southwind Amazon won the open handicap at Northfield Park in a time of 1:49.3 by 9½ lengths. It was his first of many times breaking the sub-1:50 mark on a half-mile track and outside of a near 15-length win at Canton, OH years later, his margin of victory in that Northfield race was his widest career win margin.

JULY 11, 2020

In an open at Scioto Downs, Southwind Amazon accomplished his lifetime best mark of 1:48.3. In the race as the 9-5 second choice, he set the pace from the onset and braced for the challenge of 6-5 race favorite Sectionline Bigry around the final turn. In the stretch, Southwind Amazon continued to dig in to fight off the challenge from Sectionline Bigry and was relentless in not letting that rival by; one of the more game wins of his career for sure.

JAN. 25, 2021

Southwind Amazon picked up career win 100 when he crushed at Pompano Park in a time of 1:49.3. That race came five years following his first stint at Pompano Park from back in 2016, which was where he broke 1:50 for the first time in his career when he won in a time of 1:49.2 after blazing through a three-quarter fraction that night in 1:21.4.

JUNE 26, 2021

Two races removed from a torturous trip in the Battle of Lake Erie, Southwind Amazon prevailed in a late closing series final at Northville Downs. In that race, Southwind Amazon was parked to the quarter in :26.2, faced new pressure through an unheard of half mile for that track of :53.4 and went on to hold on and win in a track record 1:52.

MARCH 13, 2022

Making just his third start back following a layoff due to injury between October 2021 and February 2022, Southwind Amazon won at Northfield in a time of 1:49.4. Remarkably — maybe even more impressive than his all-time win mark — is the fact that this race marked the sixth straight year he set a season’s mark of 1:49.4 or better all on half-mile tracks. Five of those wins came from posts 7 or 8 to boot. That will never happen again.

MAY 20, 2023

A tremendous and emphatic race call marked this race as Southwind Amazon’s final win at now-defunct Northville Downs in Michigan. The win was particularly special due to the Michigan connections of Southwind Amazon’s owner and trainer. This race made the track seem alive as Southwind Amazon unleashed a huge three-wide brush on the backstretch as his winning move to get the victory and move to within one win of Rambling Willie.

NOV. 5, 2024

Dismissed at 7-1 odds, this wasn’t the night Southwind Amazon figured to break the all-time win mark, but it was fitting this was the race in which he did it. Getting away sixth and sitting off a hot :26 opening quarter, Southwind Amazon got into the cover flow third over, then was second over while three-wide and was almost four-wide when he made the big move turning for home “with history on the line” as the race call went, it was awesome watching him pace in isolation through the stretch.

What a race. What a horse. What a career.