The expression “Who’s your daddy?” is often used as a claim of dominance. In the case of the 1938 foals of Gäel, a champion...
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You have horses with great pedigrees, then you have those really blue-blooded horses … and then there is Florestan. Despite being...
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He was a war foal who rose to the top of the French elite in the 1920. The first and only horse to be disqualified from a win in...
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He was one of the best trotters the world has seen and went on to become an even better stallion before he died too soon. The...
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It’s a story full improbable twists, cruel treatment and bizarre facts. What ended up as Hambletonian’s possibly...
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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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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.
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By many considered to be the best trotter in history, he was so popular that his name was even put forward as Foreign Minister of Italy at some point. Though he may have been the greatest trotter of all time, even after his career had started several people doubted that Varenne would amount to much on the track. He would prove them woefully wrong, however, and took both his young Finnish trainer and young Italian driver on a spectacular journey.
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Notoriously lame and struggling with unsoundness in his two seasons on the track, San Francisco was a tremendously talented trotter whose bravery and willingness to run through pain and lameness left a huge impression. In his debut, blood was dripping from his hooves with every step yet the Californian trotter finished faster than anybody else.
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Throughout history, several early favorites have missed out on the Hambletonian. In virtually all cases, though, it’s been a matter of illness or accident. That was not, however, the case with the super-talented Fireglow. Close to 100 years later the circumstances of his death are still shrouded in mystery. The question is, did somebody kill the “the greatest talent ever” just a few weeks prior to the Hambletonian?
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He is often thought of as a backwater stallion who fluked one great son despite being a lame horse not good enough to race. However, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Pilot Medium, who was one of the best American sires toward the end of the 19th century.
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He was the undisputed French emperor for several years, and only illness prevented him from winning an unprecedented five Prix d’Amerique-wins in a row. As tough off as on the track, Ourasi was a handful for those around him. He was actually more than a handful for his competitors, who simply couldn’t resist the complete package of strength, speed and an insane will to win. In one race the other competitors even colluded to prevent the chestnut superstar from winning, but Ourasi won anyway.
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He may just be the American horse imported to Europe who has left the biggest and most impressive stamp on trotting history. He was dominant on the track and despite relatively few foals left a lasting legacy. There was only one drawback with Sam Williams: he didn’t like the hill at Vincennes. That is a minor thing in the big picture, though, considering his massive influence on European trotting.
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A very good trotter and world champion, he was initially deemed not good to stand stud at Hanover Shoe Farms and sold to Europe. When his Italian buy failed to pay, Star’s Pride was given a small opportunity at stud at the famed nursey. Despite the lack of confidence and not being given the best mares, the colt immdiately showed himself as a spectacular stallion – maybe the best in history.
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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 best the world have ever seen. A rather plain trotter with bulldog determinaton, he didn’t take kindly to being mistreated.
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The first world champion bred in California, Occident came out nowhere in the early 1870s and tied Goldsmith Maid’s absolute world record in 1873. It was very different to a few years earlier when he was living a life of abuse and ill-treatment. Later he would play a key role in the development of both picture technology but also our understanding of horse gaits.
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