THE HAMBLETONIAN -- A Romp Through History

Over the next two weeks, it will be my mission to examine the history of the Hambletonian, our greatest and most famous stake. A review of the Hambletonian results is like a walk through a museum, for the race echoes with the ghosts of our past, and the list of winners of this luminous stake reads like a "Who's Who of World Trotting."

The Hambletonian was first raced in 1926 and the very first winner was the royally-bred Guy McKinney, a son of Guy Axworthy. In fact, the first three Hambletonian winners would all be by Guy Axworthy, including the 1927 winner Iosola's Worthy (the first filly winner) and the 1928 champion Spencer. The first two winners were both sired by Guy Axworthy, and Spencer was by Lee Tide, a grandson of Guy Axworthy.

In 1929, Walter Dear captured the Hambletonian. He was by The Laurel Hall, a son of Peter The Great, and thus his victory is important for the sole reason that he began the domination of this great race by the lineage that descended from Peter The Great. Over the next 68 years, 59 winners of our biggest and most important race would trace their male heritage to Peter The Great, a foal of 1895.

Thirteen Axworthy-line horses have won the Hambletonian, but it has been 25 years since the last Axworthy male line trotter took the Hambletonian, and that was when Flirth became only the second gelding ever to win in 1973, Greyhound being the only other altered winner. Considering the fact that the Axworthy line horses dominated five of the first ten years of Hambletonian history, culminating in Greyhound's win in 1935, the Axworthy blood should have done better over the years. The truth is, however, that although faint, the male line continues to this day, far beyond the predictions of many who thought the Axworthy blood would have long ago disappeared. It is highly likely that two colts will start in this year's Hambletonian who trace to Axworthy, the Sierra Kosmos sons Kick Tail and Silver Pine, and neither would be unlikely Hambletonian winners. Both of these colts are by the Nearly Perfect stallion Sierra Kosmos, and Nearly Perfect is by Songcan, a son of Florican and thus the only remaining link to the historic Axworthy blood. Florican is by Spud Hanover, a son of Guy McKinney, winner of the inaugural Hambletonian.

The domination of the Peter The Great blood in the Hambletonian simply reflects the overpowering presence of this great horse in today's modern trotter. There are two branches of the Peter the Great family. One travels through his son Peter Volo, and includes the great male line that lead to Star's Pride and Super Bowl. This branch came through Volomite to Worthy Boy to Star's Pride. Another branch of the Peter Volo sire family produced Mack Lobell, one of history's greatest racing trotters. This line also descended from Volomite to Victory Song, to Noble Victory, to Noble Gesture, to Mystic Park, the sire of mack Lobell.

The other male line descended from Peter The Great came through his son Peter Scott, and his son Scotland. There were two branches of Scotland that looked to have the legs to continue, but only one did. Scotland sired the Hambletonian winners Rosalind, Spencer Scott, The Ambassador, Hoot Mon and The Intruder. From this group, Spencer Scott founded the family of Rodney that leads to Speedster, then to Speedy Scot, Speedy Crown, Speedy Somolli, Baltic Speed and Valley Victory. Hoot Mon also sired four winners himself, including Helicopter, one of the most important females of trotting history; Scott Frost, the first Triple Crown winner, Blaze Hanover and AC's Viking. However, the Hoot Mon male line died at the same time that Hoot Mon broodmares clicked with the horse who would come to dominate trotting like no horse ever had before, or any horse has since.

And that would be the great Star's Pride. The influence of Star's Pride on our greatest race is nothing short of phenomenal. It is hard to look at the pedigree of a prominent trotter these days and not find Star's Pride's commanding presence.

Star's Pride raced in the 1950 Hambletonian and was second in the summary to the Delvin Miller-driven Lusty Song. Although he missed winning the Hambletonian, Star's Pride made up for it in the breeding shed, producing an incredible eight winners in 15 years between 1958 and 1972. This list includes the fabled Emily's Pride (later the dam of Noble Victory); Diller Hanover, Triple Crown winners Ayres, Nevele Pride, Lindy's Pride and Super Bowl; Egyptian Candor and Kerry Way.

However, from this list, Super Bowl and Nevele Pride are the only sons of Star's Pride who also produced Hambletonian winenrs. Nevele Pride is the sire of 1975 winner Bonefish.

However, Super Bowl, the last Triple Crown winner, has chased his sire's outstanding Hambletonian record by producing six winners himself, including Legend Hanover, Speed Bowl, Probe, Giant Victory, American Winner and Tagliabue. Super Bowl's presence in the modern era is nearly equal to that of his own sire. Consider the fact that over the last decade, Super Bowl has sired five winners. In the other five years when his sons did not win, it was likely that either a Super Bowl or Star's Pride mare was involved with the winner. In 1988, the winner was Armbro Goal, a son of Speedy Crown from a Star's Pride dam; in 1990 and 1992, Harmonious and Alf Palema were both from Super Bowl mares; and in 1997, Malabar Man was by Supergill, a son of Super Bowl.

The Peter Scott branch of Peter The Great has also had it's own moments of Hambletonian greatness. The fastest winner in the 72 years of Hambletonian history, the unbelievable Continentalvictory 3,1:52.1, is a descendant of Peter Scott's siring family. She, of course, is by Valley Victory, who has produced two Hambletonian winners from his first three crops.

There is, however, a very interesting aside here. Valley Victory is a foal of 1986 and there are ten generations of males leading back to Peter The Great in his male line. In contrast, there are only five generations of sires between Super Bowl and Peter The Great. Much of this stems from the fact that Star's Pride produced Super Bowl when he was in his late 20's, and the contrasting Valley Victory line has seen rapid evolution. For examble, Speedy Crown is a contemporary of Super Bowl, since he was a foal of 1968 and Super Bowl a foal of 1969. Yet, Speedy Crown is already the the great, great grandsire removed from Valley Victory. There were only seven years separating Speedy Crown from Speedy Somolli; only six to Baltic Speed and only five to Valley Victory.

It is interesting to discover that only nine stallions have produced more than one Hambletonian winner. These are Star's Pride (8); Super Bowl (6); Scotland (5); Hoot Mon and Volomite (4); Speedy Crown, Guy Axworthy and Peter Volo (3 each) and Valley Victory (2). These nine stallions have produced more than half of all Hambletonian winners.

Nuclear Kosmos, the 1986 winner, is of interest because he represents four successive generations of Hambletonian excellence. His sire Speedy Somolli; his grandsire, Speedy Crown, and the great grandsire, Speedy Scot are all Hambletonian winners. No other sire line has this kind of sustained generational prominence in the Hambletonian.

A little more trivia before we go. Only eight Hambletonian winners have been voted Horse of the Year, but it is an outstanding group, including the last two champions, Malabar Man and Continentalvictory; Mack Lobell, Green Speed, Nevele Pride, Speedy Scot, Emily's Pride and Scott Frost. It should be noted, of course, that no Horse of the Year balloting occurred in North America prior to 1955 or there would have been other Hambletonian winners on this list, including such stars as Volo Song, Hoot Mon, Titan Hanover, Rosalind, Greyhound, Hanover's Bertha and Guy McKinney.

What prominent horses started in, but did not win the Hambletonian? Well, this is a pretty imposing group as well, including such well-knowns as Guy Abbey, Scotland, Volomite, Worthy Boy, Victory Song, Rodney, Star's Pride, Tie Silk, Safe Mission, Elma, Big John, Speedy Count, Speedy Rodney, Dartmouth, Armbro Flight, Savoir, Delmonica Hanover, Zoot Suit, Florida Pro, Brisco Hanover, Final Score, Joie De Vie, Winky's Gill, Royal Prestige, Napoletano, Supergill, Firm Tribute, Peace Corps, King Conch, Pine Chip, Lindy Lane, Running Sea and Take Chances. All of you that believe that not winning the Hambletonian is the end of a horse's career can certainly take heart from the quality of the also-starteds!

I will end this week's analysis with a personal note. I have been fortunate to have seen every Hambletonian since 1963, and the Hambletonian is a part of my collective psyche. As a bloodstock consultant and adviser, I see hundreds of races every year, including nearly all of the classics. I grew up with the race in Illinois and came to appreciate its wonderful history and rich tradition. Later, I worked at the Du Quoin fair doing publicity for the Hambletonian. I can tell you that when the field collects and the gate begins to roll on a Hambletonian heat, I can feel the tension and excitement build throughout my entire body. This sort of sensation does not happen to me at any other big race. It began when I was a boy on those long, hot summer afternoons at Du Quoin. It is a testament to the remarkable background and rich traditions of this great race that it continues to inspire this kind of nervous anticipation.

NEXT WEEK, A LOOK AT THE FEMALE TRADITIONS OF THE HAMBLETONIAN