Editor’s pick

The lame foundation sire

The colt had talent, but had inherited his sire’s poor feet and was rushed too early to the races and as a result barely raced because of his lameness. Showing exceptional speed, his new owner decided to gamble on the six-year-old colt at stud. Virtually everybody thought it was a ridiculous folly of judgment. However, John Shults had the last laugh as Axworthy turned out to be one of the foundation sires of the standardbreds.

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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 Hambo-winner who disappeared

Volomite is generally considered one of the best stallions in trotting history. It’s important to remember, though, that Volomite was only the second best in his crop on the track. However, while Volomite proved his worth at stud in safe surroundings in the US, quite the opposite was the case with his superior, Walter Dear, who eventually was trapped in a war-torn Germany.. This is the story of the only Hambletonian winner in history whose fate is unknown.

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The vicious superstar

The only horse in history to set world records at 1, 2, 3 and 4 before eventually becoming one of the great stallions in history, Peter Volo was a champion both on and off the track. He was not a friendly horse, though, and had a terrible temperament. Though considered one of the pillars of harness racing history, Peter Volo was on track to be forgotten as a stallion given his poor production. One man, however, refused to give up how in the foul-tempered stallion and persisted in his efforts to buy him – a purchase which would change history.

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The family head

Grey trotters have always caught the attention of the public, Greyhound naturally being a big reason. Of the thousands of stallions which were at stud before 1900, very few were successful sires of speed – and almost no grey ones. One exception, though, was Pilot Medium who sired Peter the Great. Pilot Medium’s grey coat is inherited from his damsire, Pilot Jr, who was a famous horse in his time and widely acknowledged as the best horse in “the Pilot family.”

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