European

The race of the century

He won one of the most prestigious races of all time, then retired to become an elite stallion. His performances in Europe in 1988 are still occasionally talked about by Scandinavian trotting fans who all agree on one thing: there was something really special about Sugarcane Hanover.

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The big fella bred to the queen

To many he appears to be an average American trotter bred to the first French trotting queen. However, the story of Great McKinney is that of a good horse who just needed a bit of time and then flourished in the US before he was sold to France. Together with French trotting queen Uranie he produced two talented trotters who turned out to be excellent stallions with a big legacy.

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The blind champion

He was champion stallion for many years, even after his death, in Norway. What many did not know is that he was initially considered a very good trotter in his crop in the US. Senator Ford was practically blind early in life, however, and for welfare reasons was not allowed to race. At stud, however, there was no stopping Senator Ford.

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The hybrid

The idea of crossing trotters and pacers is nothing new, and every so often a star trotter with this background emerges. In the 1970s the foremost trotter-pacer cross was Zoot Suit, bred by Norman Woolworth. His oddball pedigree meant he wasn’t an attractive stallion to US breeders upon retirement, but in Sweden he was welcomed with open arm and became a stallion sensation.

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The first Ukrainian star

The first World War took an especially heavy toll on Ukraine as well as the Russian Empire as almost all horses perished. One US import survived, however, and after the war gave birth to one of a good trotters who turned out to be one of the best stallions ever seen in Eastern Europe. While he was very good on the tracks, as a stallion Gildeets dominated Soviet trotting for many years.

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The choking horse

The Norwegian Trotting association started to keep stallion records in 1928, and every year until 1936 the Kentucky-born chestnut stallion The Eno was the undisputed champion. However, the excellent trotter and stallion had a rough start on his career causing wanna-be comedians to suggest the horse shouldn’t be trotting but rather be touring with a circus.

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The beautiful experiment

The number of US-born stallions exported to Europe is staggering high, with very few horses going the other way for stallion duty. While some think European-born stallions in the US is a very recent thing, history shows that is not the case. In fact, the first European trotting stallion in the US arrived just a few years after the second World War. The story of Quel Veinard is both strange and fascinating, but more than anything also the story about an almost forgotten horse.

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The first great Franco-American

The Franco-American cross is more popular than ever, and many in the US have also recognized the benefits of such a breeding. It’s often said the cross created a new breed (figuratively, not literally) in the 80s and 90s. Though there is some truth to that, the Franco-American cross was very popular much earlier than that. In fact, more than 100 years ago the French trotter (Trotteur Francais) could not compete with neither the American standardbreds nor the Russian orlov trotters. Then came a French-American cross to establish himself as the first French international star.

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