The meatball

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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The black pearl

He was seemingly on his way to massive international stardom, but lady luck didn’t shine her light on Rudolf Le Ann. His owner died in a plane crash on the way to watch his beautiful black colt race, and two years later, as the colt appeared to be “better than ever,” he was struck with a life-threatening illness which set him back permanently.

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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 Dutch fairytale

At 7 he was still a highly average trotter, clearly below the best in France. However, a Dutch trainer thought he saw something in the picturesque colt and purchased him for one of his owners. Willem Geersen needed no time in turning Hairos II from highly average to world class, and thus started one of the most spectacular fairytales in the world of trotting.

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The 30 straight wins

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 Hanover, French and European trotting fans will probably answer Tenor de Baune while Coldblood enthusiasts will undoubtedly bring up Järvsöfaks. Most likely only Canadian trotting fans bring up A Worthy Lad, whose exploits unfortunately have already started to be forgotten.

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The first Californian Hambo-win

In 1938, Good Time Stable owner William Cane sold McLin, shortly after renamed McLin Hanover, just one week prior to the Hambletonian. In 1946 he repeated that by selling Chestertown to Walter E Smith of Los Angeles, president of the Western Harness Racing Association, just three days prior to the biggest race. Both horses, of course, went on to win the Hambletonian.

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The Great from Kalamazoo

He turned out to be one of the most important stallions in standardbred history, but it could have been very different. The colt was a challenge for his trainer and only made two starts in his first two seasons. In the end he only lasted five more races before a disappointed owner sold him to a buyer whose partner really didn’t want the horse at all. But Peter the Great persevered and became a true legend and foundation stallion of the standardbreds.

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The peculiarly unfortunate horse

He had a downright weird racing career, not competing regularly until he was 15. There he showed glimpses of brilliance despite an injury that just kept getting worse. Kept at stud for most of his life, but relatively unsupported by his famous owner, Woodford Mambrino was one of the more impressive stallions of the 19th century America.

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