At 7 he was still a highly average trotter, clearly below the best in France. However, a Dutch trainer thought he saw something...
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He competed for 12 seasons, won numerous big races through his 199 career starts and retired only to excel in show jumping...
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Ask somebody to name a horse with 30 straight wins and they will probably be able to do so: pacing fans will probably answer Bret...
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Having won the Hambletonian twice, in 1930 with Hanover’s Bertha and 1937 with Shirley Hanover, the Hanover Shoe...
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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...
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He had been a really good trotter in Europe and moved with his trainer to the US. At first some questioned if an 8-year-old...
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Some horses have the potential to change somebody’s life. A superstar in Quebec, the mare initially named Fontaine Angus was invincible at 2 and became a life changer for her trainer. After a stellar career, Emilie Cas El followed up as a broodmare by producing a Hambletonian-winner.
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In 1989 Olav Christiansen, a farmer in the Norwegian village Åsenfjord, lost the right to let his sheep grace in the nearby mountains in the summer, so he decided to quit sheep farming and focus on harness racing. Trading his remaining sheep for a a yearling filly and an unborn foal, Christiansen made one of the most lucrative and one-sided deals in harness history.
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The third filly to win the big race, The Marchioness was the first winner of a four-heat Hambletonian, the first winner with a female owner and the only one whose trainer and driver previously trained trotters for the Russian czar.
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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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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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He was the first superstar trained by Åke Svanstedt and helped make the trainer a household name all over trotting-Europe. Winner of the UET Grand Circuit for two years running, Zoogin was the complete package of speed and strength in powerful body.
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Her breeders bought a mare they didn’t really want at auction, and didn’t even know she was in foal to an unpopular sire. The resulting filly was stubborn and difficult to break. However, when she first started trotting, the filly did nothing else – and usually faster than everybody else. From humble beginnings in the north of Netherlands, Action Skoatter gained worldwide recognition in the 1988 Elitlopp for both her looks and her whirlwind speed.
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He was a nasty colt, and the only – to date – Elitlopp-winner to be led to the winners’ circle by two grooms holding a chain. The blue-blooded trotter Jorky was no treat to be around, and he was a handful for his opponents as well. The only horse to win all four group I-Criteriums in France, Jorky was a mean superstar.
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She was bought as a bit of a gamble, and let her nerves get the better of her in her European debut. It wouldn’t take long for the mare to be the darling of hew new country, however. Dutch trotting fans adored Speedy Volita, the mare who won a massive 99 wins in her new homeland and became so popular she even got her own song.
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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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