She was an aloof and difficult mare, preferring to be left alone even when she went blind. Medio is also one of the most important matrons in history.
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1800s
The rum addict
It’s a story full improbable twists, cruel treatment and bizarre facts. What ended up as Hambletonian’s possibly...
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The Old Grey Mare of Long Island
Known as the “The Queen of the Turf”, she was the first to break the magic 2:30 barrier. A victim of bad and harsh...
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The grey super stallion
He is often thought of as a backwater stallion who fluked one great son despite being a lame horse not good enough to race...
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The Monarch of the Mile
Maybe the best trotter ever bred in the Hoosier state, Cresceus went from being the best ever seen on the snow in Toledo to the...
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The California wonder
The first world champion bred in California, Occident came out nowhere in the early 1870s and tied Goldsmith Maid’s...
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The Civil War casualty
While Hambletonian is forever immortalized in the history of trotting, what could possibly have turned out been his best son at...
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The first of the champions to have an unblemished career, Maud S was one of the best trotters in the high wheel sulky era and lowered the world record a whopping six times.
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One of the first great stallions of the mid-1800s, Mambrino Chief was also the first star stallion in Kentucky and founded one of the first trotting families.
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He was one of the thousands of Orlov trotters exported from Russia in the golden age of the breed. Kozyr found a new home in France, was one of the best aged trotters in France for several years and is today found in every French pedigree.
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He had a downright weird racing career, not competing regularly until he was 15. There he showed glimpses of brilliance despite an injury that just kept getting worse. Kept at stud for most of his life, but relatively unsupported by his famous owner, Woodford Mambrino was one of the more impressive stallions of the 19th century America.
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The blue-blooded Kentuckian excelled in Europe, becoming the first horse to win an international race at Vincennes and later went on to be a stallion champion, siring the first European-bred 2:05 trotter and multiple Derby-winners.
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She had six foals, all daughters, but died way too early at 12. Despite this, Mamie has left an exceptional legacy and is counted as one of the most important broodmares in trotting history.
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He was discredited and a victim of manipulation of historical facts. As head of the family carrying his name, Henry Clay was the offer of malicious rumors, but did play a role in the development of both the American and French trotter.
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He turned out to be one of the most important stallions in standardbred history, but it could have been very different. The colt was a challenge for his trainer and only made two starts in his first two seasons. In the end he only lasted five more races before a disappointed owner sold him to a buyer whose partner really didn’t want the horse at all. But Peter the Great persevered and became a true legend and foundation stallion of the standardbreds.
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She had a questionable pedigree, was difficult to handle, didn’t trot well and didn’t even start a single race. However suspect and hopeless the mare and her background appeared, Santos produced two of the best horses of her day and was a remarkable broodmare.
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