The Female Side of the Hambletonian

Last week in the "Corner," I examined the male line legacy of the Hambletonian stake. This week, I will look at the female side of the ledger.

Any discussion of the female lineage of Hambletonian winners must start with the wondrous Continentalvictory. The 'fabulous filly with the flying tail' is the fastest of all Hambletonian winners with her stunning, second-heat score in 1:52.1 in the 1996 Hambletonian. In some years when fillies have won the Hambletonian, they did so because the colts were pretty average, but that cannot be said of those colts that were among the beaten field in the last same-day, multiple-heat Hambletonian. Continentalvictory defeated Lindy Lane 3,1:53, Valley Victory's fastest racing son to date, and finishing third was the eventual Kentucky Futurity & Breeders Crown winner Running Sea.

To gauge the quality of Continentalvictory's Hambletonian performance, consider that she is the only sub-1:53 Hambletonian performer in history, and she did that twice in her historic Hambletonian heats. The stakes record entering that day was American Winner's 1:53.1 effort in 1993, and Continentalvictory lowered his mark by a full second. But perhaps more importantly, consider that the fastest mile ever trotted by a filly winning a heat of the Hambletonian was the 1:56.3 world-record heat win by Armbro Regina in the 4-heat, 1976 Hambo eventually won by Steve Lobell. Of the 13 filly winners of the Hambletonian, only three others (Duenna, Kerry Way and Emily's Pride) beat 2:00 in winning the race.

Emily's Pride was, in fact, the first horse of either sex to trot below 2:00 in the Hambletonian when she won the '58 edition in 1:59.4. She, of course, is a filly of considerable historical importance as she later produced the world champion colt trotter Noble Victory 4,1:55.3.

The first filly winner of the Hambletonian was the late 1920's star, Iosola's Worthy, a daughter of Guy Axworthy who won a rain-delayed Hambletonian that was raced over The Red Mile in Lexington a week before the same filly won the 1927 Kentucky Futurity. Three years later, Hanover Shoe Farms' Hanover's Bertha, a daughter of Peter Volo from the famed Miss Bertha Dillon, won the 1930 Hambletonian for Tom Berry. Seven years after that, her Mr. McElwyn daughter Shirley Hanover became the first and only mother-daughter winners of our biggest race. In 1932 and 1933, Hambletonian glory went to The Marchioness, a royally-bred daughter of Peter Volo, and to Mary Reynolds a year later. The latter filly was a daughter of Peter The Brewer from the 1925 Kentucky Futurity winner Aileen Guy.

In fact, in the first decade of Hambletonian competition, the fillies had a slight advantage over the colts as six fillies won in the first 11 years. The 1936 Hambletonian was a showcase for Ben White's marvelous homebred filly Rosalind before Shirley Hanover triumphed in 1937.

But after that successful run, it was seven years before Yankee Maid scored in 1944 for Henry Thomas, and then Miss Tilly triumphed in 1949 for Fred Egan. In 1953, Harry Harvey subbed for his boss, Delvin Miller, and directed Helicopter to victory, while "Flick" Nipe directed Emily's Pride in 1958. But in the last 40 years, only three fillies have been Hambletonian winners. Kerry Way and Frank Ervin were the best in 1966 and Stanley Dancer triumphed in 1983 with Duenna, and those were the last filly winners before Continentalvictory's heroics in 1996, although many of the most prominent females of that time have performed admirably in the Hambletonian, including such well-known filly stars as Delmonica Hanover, Armbro Flight, Winky's Gill, Peace Corps, Britelite Lobell, Speed Model and Elma. Much of this is a result of the creation of the Hambletonian Oaks in 1971, and several of the Oaks winners might have been Hambletonian Open contenders, including Colonial Charm, Keystone Pioneer, Ima Lula, Tarport Frenzy, Fancy Crown, Conch, Jef's Spice, Nan's Catch and her daughter Moni Maker. It should be remembered last year that Must Be Victory and No Nonsense Woman trotted nearly two seconds faster in the Oaks than winner Malabar Man and his colt brethren did in the Open division. With the Oaks now worth $500,000, it is doubtful that many fillies will be trying the colts in the Open division in years to come.

Several of the Hambletonian Open filly winners are very important mares to the breed. 1930 winner Hanover's Bertha produced Shirley Hanover, the 1937 winner and founded a branch of the Miss Bertha Dillon maternal family that was also responsible for 1960 winner Blaze Hanover, who was from a full sister to Shirley Hanover. This immediate branch of the family also produced the millionaire trotting filly Britelite Lobell, and re-appeared some 30 years later with Oaks winner Lookout Victory and her full sister, this year's Oaks starter Ms. Vic. The 1936 winner Rosalind set a world record at Lexington in 1938 at four that lasted for nearly 40 years, and her family is alive and well today. Fern, the Sierra Kosmos filly who will start as one of the favorites in this week's Hambletonian Oaks, traces directly to Rosalind in her female line.

Yankee Maid, the 1944 winner, was a half-sister to the world champion Greyhound and was later the granddam of the world champion trotting mare Colonial Charm 4,1:56.1, the mare who finally dethroned Rosalind. Miss Tilly, the 1949 winner, has an active family that produced the good Ohio stallion Armbro Iliad and the noted six-time 2:00 producer Desert Wind.

Helicopter, by Hoot Mon, was winner of the 1953 Hambletonian, and is one of the most important winners in history, as her daughter was the fabulous Armbro Flight, the Star's Pride filly who was a winner of a heat of the mud-plagued 1965 Hambletonian. Armbro Flight's son, Armbro Goal, by Speedy Crown, was winner of the 1988 Hambletonian, and Armbro Flight's Speedy Scot daughter Armbro Regina won a heat of the 1976 Hambletonian in a world record 1:56.3. This is one of the strongest Hambletonian legacies of any mare ever to win the race. Armbro Flight was a heat winner of a 4-heat Hambletonian, and was narrowly defeated in the final by Egyptian Candor. Her daughter, Armbro Regina, also won a heat of a 4-heat Hambletonian, and was narrowly defeated in the final by Steve Lobell. Armbro Goal's win in 1988 was atonement for Armbro Flight and Armbro Regina's near misses. Another daughter of Helicopter, her 1956 daughter Armbro Madam, is the third dam of Earl, one of Balanced Image's top performing sons. A half-sister to Earl, the Valley Victory filly Val Lee Woman, will start in this year's Oaks. The same branch of this family also produced 1957 winner Hickory Smoke, and another is the home of Hambletonian inaugural winner Guy McKinney.

As mentioned above, Emily's Pride was the first horse of either sex to trot below 2:00 winning the Hambletonian, but it fell to her sister, Emily Star, to found a successful family. The world champion Florida Pro 3,1:55 (who took his record winning a heat of the '78 Hambletonian) traces directly to Emily Star. This branch of the family also produced the $1 million-winning mother-daughter team of Keystone Pioneer and Kit Lobell.

The 1966 winner Kerry Way later became the dam of the Kentucky Futurity and International trot winner Classical Way 4,1:55.3 and Kerry Way's full sister Beloved, is the second dam of 1972 winner Super Bowl. The 1983 winner Duenna has had nine foals to date, and has three in 2:00, and one suspects that her class will re-appear in a maternal descendant. Continentalvictory is in foal for the first time to the 1997 Hambletonian winner Malabar Man, and that foal will have a wonderful, unique heritage.

There are two maternal families that have dominated Hambletonian history. One is the famed Medio tribe which descends through Miss Bertha Dillon's daughters Miss Bertha Hanover, Hanover's Bertha and Charlotte Hanover, all full sisters by Peter Volo. Medio's family has produced nine Hambletonian winners and all three descend from this lone trio of mares. Miss Bertha Hanover's family produced 1965 winner Egyptian Candor, 1977 winner Green Speed, 1987 winner Mack Lobell and 1993 champion American Winner. In fact, Mack Lobell is a half-brother to the dam of American Winner.

The other Medio winners include Hanover's Bertha, herself a daughter of the noted Miss Bertha Dillon, who won the 1927 race, and produced 1937 champ Shirley Hanover as well as the dam of Blaze Hanover. Charlotte Hanover's family produced the Hambletonian-winning full brothers Timothy T. and Christopher T., as well as 1978 filly stake winner Cora T.

Another maternal family with a unique Hambletonian heritage is that of Minnehaha, whose descendants have also won nine Hambos. The Minnehaha winners are spread over the last 50 years and include such notables as Miss Tilly, Hoot Mon, Diller Hanover, Speed Bowl, Duenna, Legend Hanover, Speedy Somolli, Steve Lobell and Victory Dream. Legend Hanover and Speedy Somolli are closely related since Legend Hanover is a 3/4 brother to Somolli, the dam of Speedy Somolli. Steve Lobell, the 1976 4-heat winner, is from the historic Sprite Hanover branch of Minnehaha, a tribe that also produced the millionairess Davidia Hanover.

Duenna and Speed Bowl are both from the Spinster Hanover branch of the famous family that descends from the Guy Abey matron The Old Maid. Hoot Mon, the 1944 winner, is from a half-sister to 1949 winner Miss Tilly.

Peter The Great is still the leading broodmare sire of Hambletonian winners with six with Hoot Mon, Speedy Crown, Star's Pride and Victory Song tied at four broodmare credits each. Speedy Crown obviously has a chance to move into second on his own, as Muscles Yankee, a Valley Victory colt with a Speedy Crown dam, is the early choice this week to win Saturday's Hambletonian.

Any way you examine it, the Hambletonian filly legacy is a great one, and a testament to the overall quality of the event.

NEXT WEEK, A LOOK AT THE PEDIGREE OF THE HAMBLETONIAN WINNER!