USA

The Civil War casualty

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.

Read More

The first pride of Hanover

He 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 More

The freak of nature

When 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 More

The sure-fire horse

The 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 More

The little big champion

He 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.

Read More