She was a really good youngster in the US, winning the Hambletonian Oaks and Kentucky Futurity filly, and blossomed into one of Europe’s best aged mares. After a race in Italy on Boxing Day 1993 the speedy mare Park Avenue Kathy, who previously had equaled the world record for aged mares, was caught in a fire with no opportunity to escape.
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She was on her way to possibly becoming one of the best trotters in history when tragedy struck. The tale of Sadie Mac is one a trotter so superior it’s almost unparalleled, but also contains an ending so sad it’s almost incomprehensively.
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She was one of the most famous trotters around the time Hambletonian was born, but we don’t even know her name. In the mid and late 1840s, one gray mare was dominating among the New York roadsters. That was Captain Roberts’ mare. Her name, breeder and pedigree is lost to history – but not her abilities. The unnamed gray wonder founded a family that has thrived throughout trotting history.
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In the case of Nevele Pride, it is not only the horse that is legendary, but also his temperament. For every great race-related story, there is an even greater story about his temper. But whereas he might very well have been one of the meanest and most aggressive horses, he was also a fierce competitor who rarely lost and broke almost all the records – except against the mare who looked him in the eye.
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He was the last superstar trotter bred by Yankeeland Farms, the legendary Maryland-based farm that closed its doors in 2006. Muscles Yankee commanded a high fee at the yearling auction in Lexington. However, the $200,000 shelled out turned out to be a massive bargain as the big colt developed into a legendary racehorse and stallion.
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The third horse to win the trotting’s Triple Crown, Ayres, was always an great talent, but at 2 there were question marks surrounding the future of his immense ability. Could, and would, it be harnessed properly – or would he go into history as another could-have-been? Despite setting a rather extreme world record at two, Ayres had a mind of his own and had serious issues with authority. A trainer who laid down the law turned the unruly kid around an into a real superstar and Triple Crown-winner.
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A rugged black colt, Hoot Mon became known as the Hambletonian winner who sired four winners of the same race, earning him nickname the nickname of “the Hambletonian sire.”
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He was broken, but never trained for a single race. When Electioneer was bought at 8 for a huge sum he had nothing to show for and buyer Leland Stanford was told by numerous people he had gambled on the wrong horse. As it turned out, however, it was Stanford who was right and everybody else who was wrong as Electioneer turned out to be the premier sire of trotters in the high-wheel sulky time.
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He is a Hall of Fame sire and one of the initial stallions at Hanover Shoe Farms, who owned 31 broodmares by him upon his death. Though largely forgotten now, Dillon Axworthy was one of the best young trotters of his day – even as a yearling he showed a lot of speed – even though his manners were far from perfect. At stud he was even better and became a massively important stallion.
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Throughout history there have been a few select horses that have singlehandedly increased the interest in harness racing and drawn people to the tracks like never before. One of the most important such horses is Rex Rodney, the Norwegian rags-to-riches story who started his career without a victory at 3 but ended up winning one of the world’s biggest races. A horse with no apparent pedigree to talk of and who did not even break the 2:00 (1.14,6) barrier until he was 6 years old, he eventually became a household name all over Norway and Scandinavia.
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