While Hambletonian is forever immortalized in the history of trotting, what could possibly have turned out been his best son at stud is largely forgotten. One of Hambletonian’s very first foals, Alexander’s Abdallah was a spectacular sire whose life tragically ended way too early during the Civil War.
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The great horse of San Mateo (and the Captain’s mare)
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...
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The terror
In the case of Nevele Pride, it is not only the horse that is legendary, but also his temperament. For every great race-related...
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The last Yankee superstar
He was the last superstar trotter bred by Yankeeland Farms, the legendary Maryland-based farm that closed its doors in 2006...
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The juvenile delinquent
The third horse to win the trotting’s Triple Crown, Ayres, was always an great talent, but at 2 there were question marks...
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The Hambletonian sire
A rugged black colt, Hoot Mon became known as the Hambletonian winner who sired four winners of the same race, earning him...
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The stallion sensation
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...
Read MoreHe was the world’s first 1:56 trotter and a prized possession of Lawrence Sheppard’s fledging Hanover Shoe Farms. Peter Manning was a natural talent who improved quickly with little work. In fact, the legendary gelding was so good it required a horse of Greyhound’s caliber to beat his world record.
Read MoreA supremely fast trotter, he is most famous for stumbling shortly ahead of the wire in the Hambletonian with victory within reach. Sold to Europe not long after equaling a world record at 4, Brown Berry later likely became a clandestine stallion in France.
Read MoreShe was an aloof and difficult mare, preferring to be left alone even when she went blind. Medio is also one of the most important matrons in history.
Read MoreWhen Googoo Gaagaa burst onto the Maryland scene many didn’t know what to think. A world record for 2-year-olds on a half mile track was impressive, but could he really be that good? As it turned out, at his best he was even better. Persistent injury problems caused an early retirement, but the hybrid-bred trotter then went from impressing on the track to impressing at stud.
Read MoreThe royally-bred colt was not a traditional early talent like many top US trotters. Only at 4 was Peter the Brewer ready to compete at a high level, but then he became an elite trotter in no time and was seen as a likely candidate to be one of the first 2:00 trotters.
Read MoreThe first of the champions to have an unblemished career, Maud S was one of the best trotters in the high wheel sulky era and lowered the world record a whopping six times.
Read MoreOne of the first great stallions of the mid-1800s, Mambrino Chief was also the first star stallion in Kentucky and founded one of the first trotting families.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreHe was a slight two-year-old who was sold off in the belief that he had no future. However, the 15 hands/152 cm trotter grew to be a spectacular animal with exceptional speed and strength and, most of all, extreme courage and gameness. “Little Lee” would indeed be the biggest, before he tragically died way too soon.
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