The aloof matron

She 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.

Born in 1887, the chestnut mare Medio was bred by Major PP Johnson, president of the National Trotting Association. Medio was born was her dam Topsey 4 years old, but it is lost to history whether the dam was bred early because of injury or some other reason. Breeder Johnson sure wasn’t afraid of short generation intervals, though, both of Medio’s parents were 3 when they were mated. Her sire Cooper Medium was bred in Georgetown, KY by John H. Cooper and born in 1883. Not much is known about this stallion but he produced a few 2:30 trotters. Even less is known about her dam Topsey, a daughter of Mambrino King. Supposedly her dam was by the famous thoroughbred Grey Eagle, but since that could be properly authenticated John Wallace left Topsey’s maternal side blank in the studbook. It should be added that Wallace was as quarrelsome as they come, abhorred thoroughbred blood and rarely let go of an opportunity to exclude these parts of the pedigrees. However, as John Hervey wrote in an article on Mambrino King in the May 25, 1938, edition of Harness Horse, “there is good reason to believe, however, that the Grey Eagle cross was not fictitious; the dates made it easily possible and there were many Grey Eagle mares in Kentucky at that period, of which a good number were not orthodox thoroughbreds, for it is well known that the stallion covered many non-thoroughbred mares.”

Medio was also unstarted – she is often, erroneously, said to be a 2:14 1/2 (1.23,6) trotter, but that record belongs to a good colt by the same name born three years later. Just as her dam, Medio was bred at 3, giving birth to her first foal, the mare Marble, by King Clay, in 1891. Again, the reason for breeding Medio at 3 is unknown, but Johnson generally trained little of his stock. Medio’s disposition was probably also a contributing factor: from an article in the Horse Review in 1931, “Medio herself was keyed ‘way up in G’ and most of her foals resembled her, especially Marble and Black Robert.” This was further underscored by Dean Hoffman in Quest for Excellence: Hanover Shoe Farms’ First 75 Years, who quotes harness historian John L Hervey: “Medio was an aloof mare ‘without any of the gentle traits that broodmares so often exhibit’, wrote Hervey. Even during her later years, after she had gone blind, Medio stood apart from her pasture mates, ‘asking for neither caresses nor kind words from anybody.’ Medio’s 1891 daughter named Marble inherited her mother’s disposition. On the track she was so unpredictable, wrote Hervey, ‘The day she took her record, her driver was sweating blood with anxiety, regarding just what she might take a notion to do next.”

From Kentucky to Wisconsin

In 1892 DeWitt C Palmeter, a Chicago millionaire and cranberry king, purchased 74 acres of land in Berlin, WI and established the Riverside Park Farms. He immediately acquired the colt Baronmore, who became a really good stallion, and the following October he bought the then-two-year-old Marble for $150 at auction. She had shown extreme speed. According to an article published in numerous newspapers in October 1901, Marble “trained on to a record of 2:14 (1.23,3), and was much faster, but injudicious early handling had hurt her as a race mare. Mr Palmeter liked her so well that when, a season or two later, he got a chance to purchase her dam Medio at an easy price he snapped her up. Along with her he got her black yearling colt that is still owned by Mr Palmeter, and is now well known as Black Robert, four-year-old trotting record 2:13 1/2 (1.23,0).”

The purchase of Medio, from Johnson’s estate, was in 1896, and the year prior she had given birth to the above-mentioned Black Robert, by McEl Roberts (a son of Robert McGregor). In the purchase was also included Medio’s 1896 foal Little Mack, a gelding by McEl Roberts. In between, Medio has also produced Tillunian in 1892 and his full brother Rifle the following year, both sons of Lexington, in turn a son of Mambrino King. None of these three foals amounted to much on the tracks.

The family’s first Kentucky Futurity winner

In 1897, Palmeter retired Baronmore to the stud at Riverside Park farm. Among the first mares bred to his new stallion was Medio. In 1898 she foaled a chestnut colt who turned out to be a spectacular trotter. That was Peter Stirling, winner of the 1901 Kentucky Futurity, where he set a world record in the second heat by winning in 2:11 1/2 (1.21,7). The horse was supremely talented as a youngster, but also a challenge to balance and almost didn’t make it to the tracks.

Described as a “racy-looking chestnut”, an article in The Plain Dealer in 1901 states that “like many of the great ones, Peter Stirling was a trial to his trainer during the early days. He was broken and given some little word as a yearling and as a two-year-old showed sensational flights of speed at the trot whenever Chandler could get him to go at the gait. He developed extraordinary inclination to run and canter, however, but Chandler determined to persevere with him, and in the middle of his two-year-old career turned him out on account of sore feet. He was taken up again as a three-year-old, but showed all of the same inclination to go on the run. Remembering that Ed Geers had the same trouble with the Mambrino Kings and that Peter Stirling’s second dam was by that horse, Chandler kept on with Stirling. At last, disgusted, he determined to give the colt a last trial and if he did not trot to cut off his tail and mane and make a prompter of him to try out the other trotters in the stable. Peter Stirling was given this last chance and behaved so well that he was trained to become a winner of the three-year-old classic, the Kentucky Futurity. His performance in that stake marks him as a colt of the very highest class, as he was never pushed to his full limit, and could have placed his mark still lower than 2:11 1/2 (1.21,7).”

Unfortunately, though, despite winning every heat in all his five starts, Peter Stirling never started again after the Kentucky Futurity. Sold for $9,200 at the Old Glory auction at the end of that year, he became a roadster for a wealthy New Yorker and never returned to the track. As Peter Stirling was gelded at 2 he didn’t have any foals.

Bred to Don Wilkes, Medio gave birth to Ariel Wilkes in 1899. Through her daughter Ariel Moore this maternal family produced a 2:05 (1.17,7) pacer in Scotland’s Mazzy, a filly by Scotland born 1946. She is the origin of a small group of talented trotters starting with Duchess Faye going and further to Flex the Muscle plus European stars Stoletheshow and Devilish Hill.

In 1900, the matron had another son of Baronmore, Johnny Harvard 2:20 (1.27,0). The expectations were high since he was a full brother to Peter Stirling, but Johnny Harvard struggled with lameness and ended up as a roadster for wealthy gentlemen in New York. 1901 saw the birth of Pattie Stirling, the full sister of Peter Stirling. Her lasting impact is as the dam of Sterling Hall, damsire of Anna Maloney – the mare who ended up in France where she turned out to be one of the best broodmares in history.

At the end of 1901, courtesy of Peter Stirling’s stellar three-year-old season, Medio had the distinction of having produced three 2:15 (1.23,9) trotter by the time she was 14 – and one of only ten broodmares to achieve this back then. Three years later, Medio’s chestnut daughter Queen Medio T2,2:26 (1.30,7) was born. According to a contemporary article, trainer Chandler believed that “she was equally as good as his great colt-trotter Ed Custer, and a mile close to 2:10 (1.20,8) was believed possible for her, but since Mr Cuthill purchased her she has had practically no training.” She had a few foals, but none that amounted to much.

Born in 1907, Jane Jones T2,2:16 1/2, 2:14 1/4 (1.23,7), later renamed to Miss Jane Jones, was a daughter of Barongale. A decent trotter, she did not follow up as a broodmare, though a few branches originating from her are found in Europe. The best of trotters tracing back to her maternally is probably the Swedish Window W, a very good trotter in the mid- to early 80s. Medio’s last foal was Baron Chansell, later renamed Jack Coombs, by Baronmore, born in 1909. Not long after giving birth the great matron passed away.

A massive legacy

Medio’s legacy is primarily through her daughter Marble. The latter gave birth to Miss Bertha C and Ed Custer 2:10, both by Baronmore. Miss Bertha C was a very talented racehorse but had terrible manners. She was a spectacular broodmare and through her daughters Miss Bertha Dillon and Sister Dillon, both by Dillon Axworthy, she has an immense legacy. Trotters descending from Marble on the maternal line include, to name a few in alphabetical order; American Winner, Andover Hall, Arndon, Cantab Hall Gigant Neo, Hannelore Hanover, Mack Lobell, Manchego, Peace Corps, Readly Express, Rebuff, Savoir, Sea Cove and Victory Tilly. Numerous exceptional pacers, like Artsplace, Bret Hanover and Dragon Again also go directly back to Marble on their maternal line.

Bizarrely enough, despite producing a Kentucky Futurity winner and having massive long-term importance, Medio is not inducted into the Hall of Fame.