Struggling to stay sound, he made just a few starts in his career but impressed mightly both by his capacity and his physique. Guy Axworthy then went on to get revenge at stud by becoming one of the first superstar stallions.
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Elite stallions
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 first three-year-old to beat 2:00
His whole life is spectacular. He was the best trotter in his generation, even though his trainer was skeptical and at 2 felt the...
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Il Capitano
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...
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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 horse who hated the uphill
He may just be the American horse imported to Europe who has left the biggest and most impressive stamp on trotting history. He...
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The cream who rose to the top
A very good trotter and world champion, he was initially deemed not good to stand stud at Hanover Shoe Farms and sold to Europe...
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When the French studbook was briefly opened between 1987 and 1992, conservative French breeders generally nixed the opportunity to breed their mares to foreign sires. Some even went as far as claiming they “didn’t want to plant weed in their garden”, saying in no unclear terms that the American standardbred had absolutely nothing to offer the French trotter whose studbook had been closed since 1937 and only opened for five foreign-born stallions and a few other exceptions. Despite what the naysayers claimed, though, opening up the studbook took French trotting to a completely new level – and the best example of this is Coktail Jet.
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He set several world records, is one of few horses to beat Varenne fair and square and went on to become one of the best stallions the world has ever seen. To his trainer, though, Viking Kronos was more than just a spectacular racehorse and stallion. He was everything. “God has created him, he’s a phenomenon. Then I have been given the great honor of taking care of him, for which I am eternally thankful”, Kolgjini said after the horse’s win in the E3 final in 1998.
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When Googoo Gaagaa burst onto the Maryland scene many didn’t know what to think. A world record for 2-year-olds on a half mile track was impressive, but could he really be that good? As it turned out, at his best he was even better. Persistent injury problems caused an early retirement, but the hybrid-bred trotter then went from impressing on the track to impressing at stud.
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The royally-bred colt was not a traditional early talent like many top US trotters. Only at 4 was Peter the Brewer ready to compete at a high level, but then he became an elite trotter in no time and was seen as a likely candidate to be one of the first 2:00 trotters.
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Named for a Pokemon character, the Illinois-bred trotter proved that you don’t need the most fashionable pedigree to beat the best. Kadabra was a spectacular trotter who set a world record at 4 before he retired to become an elite stallion.
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From humble beginnings, he became one of the best three-year-olds, then went on to dominate as an aged trotter. In was at stud he established himself as one of the true legends of trotting, though, but it was a stroke of luck that Speedy Crown wasn’t lost to American trotting after his two-year-old season.
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French trotters that visited Sweden in the 50s tended to dominate and the desire to bring in French bloodlines were very strong. When the French-born Tibur was brought to Scandinavia, however, the colt was rejected by the Swedish breeding commission. However, following the old adage that “cream always rises to the top”, Tibur proved himself a true elite stallion but only got his chance because of a loophole in the rules.
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He was talented but a contagious virus ruined his three-year-old season. Being sold to Europe got Bulwark’s career back on track but it was as a stallion he became truly legendary. Despite a relatively limited number of foals, the colt completely dominated the stallion ranks in his new home country.
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He was the unlikeliest of Hambletonian heroes. His breeder felt forced to buy his dam despite not wanting her, and also felt cheated when he first saw his new broodmare. His trainer cheered for another horse. His driver felt so sure he couldn’t win that he didn’t even invite his family. But in the 1992 Hambletonian final, Mickey McNichol and Alf Palema found the tiniest of openings to sprint to victory.
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