Us Harness Racing

Anthony T. Abbatiello 1994

Carmine Abbatiello 1985

ABBEDALE p, 2:01¼ 1955 [1917-1950]
Bred by Gus Coggins of Canton, GA, Abbedale was foaled In 1917, sired by The Abbe out of Daisydale D. A Grand Circuit winner of top class for Walter Cox, Abbedale took his mark free-legged as a five-year-old. Not too sound In his teens, he was purchased by the Village Farm, Langhorne, PA from Walter Candler and soon was an outstanding pacing sire. He was the sire of six 2:00 pacers, headed by the champion pacing mare Her Ladyship, 1:56¾. His son Hal Dale, 2:02¼ was the sire of the famed stallion Adios as well as Good Time, the 1949 and 1952 Horse of the Year. Abbedale was retired from stud in 1943. He died at Village Farm at the age of 33 in July 1950.

ABDALLAH (Alexander's) t 1967 [1852-1865]
Foaled in 1852 by Hambletonian-Katy Darling, Abdallah became a great sire but was caught up by the Civil War. He sired Goldsmith Maid, Robert McGregor and many others. He died in 1865 as a result of neglect due to the war.

ABERCROMBIE p, 2, 1:56;3, 1:54.3; 4, 1:53m [1975-2000]
Abercrombie, the son of Silent Majority and Bergdorf by Duane Hanover, was bred by Walnut Hall Farm and owned by the late Keith Bulen of Indianapolis and Shirley Mitchell of Zionsville, IN. Foaled in 1975, Abercrombie was an outstanding racehorse, stakes and free-for-all winner from age two through four. In 1978, at the age of 3, he won 22 of 33 starts; he set a single season money winning record of $703,260 and was voted Horse of the Year. That year, trained and driven by Immortal Glen Garnsey, his major victories included the Messenger, Adios, Prix d'Ete and Confederation Cup. A year later, Abercrombie set a 1:53m world record for four-year-old pacers, winning the U.S. Pacing Championship at the Meadowlands, NJ; this was the fastest race mile ever. He also won the American-National Futurity in 1:58.1 at Sportsman's Park, IL.
Syndicated for $3 million as a sire, Abercrombie was especially noted for producing fast and durable pacers. This ability has brought the Adios sire line back to the highest levels of the sport. At the time of his death, Abercrombie had sired more than 1700 foals that have earned nearly $130 million. Abercrombie's credits also include 11, $1 million winners, led by Artsplace, winner of over $3 million. He has also sired 335, $100,000 winners. Three have gone in 1:50, 296 in 1:55 and 931 in 2:00. He was the leader of the annual money-winning sires list four times and is currently the second leading money-winning sire of all time. Some of Abercrombie's most famous performers are Artsplace, Life Sign, Albert Albert, Armbro Emerson, Anniecrombie, Armbro Dallas, Kentucky Spur, Topnotcher, Leah Almahurst and Laag. Several of Abercrombie's sons are now making their mark on the breed, and his daughters are continually adding to his broodmare sire credits, which in 2000 stood at 849 in 2:00.
Abercrombie, whose lifetime winnings totaled $984,391, was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1999. He stood at stud at Castleton Farms, Lexington, KY from 1980 until his death on November 14, 2000. He was buried at the farm.

Doug Ackerman 1994 [1927- ]

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TOWNSEND ACKERMAN 1985 [1888-1984]
Born in 1888 at Lloyd, NY, he began his career at twelve when he served as exercise boy for his father William, who raced both Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds. Some top-rated harness horses developed by Ackerman during his early days as trainer and farm manager included Etta Drulen, Oscawana and Larkspur, with whom he won a heat of the 1930 Hambletonian (the first Hambletonian heat ever raced at Goshen!). He had previously selected and conditioned Guy McKinney at two years of age, who was undefeated at three and won the first Hambletonian Stake at Syracuse in 1926. Ackerman's achievements in the sport are all the more remarkable considering the fact that he lost a leg in an accident as a youngster. He died in 1984 at age 96.

ADIOS p, 1:57½ 1965 [1940-1965]
Owned by 1959 Immortal Leo McNamara, he was sired by Hal Dale out of Adioo Volo at Two Gaits Farm in Indianapolis, IN, where he was foaled in 1940. Adios was raced for four seasons and retired in 1946. Bought by L. K. Shapiro of Los Angeles in 1946, he acquired a record of 1:57½. Delvin Miller purchased him in 1948 and he was retired to Meadow Lands Farm in Pennsylvania. His offspring were the champions of the sport and seven years later Hanover Shoe Farm paid $500,000 for him. Later, Miller and Max Hempt of Hempt Farms, PA each purchased back a one-third interest. Adios died at Meadow Lands Farm in 1965.

ADIOS BUTLER p, T1:54.3 1990 [1956-1983]
A foal of 1956, bred by R.C. Carpenter of Chester, NY, he was the son of Adios and Debby Hanover. Adios Butler was pacing's first Triple Crown winner (The Messenger Stake, The Cane Futurity and The Little Brown Jug) in 1959. Adios Butler held a world record over a mile track (Lexington, T1:54.3, Paige West), as well as a world mark over a half-mile track (Delaware, OH, T1:55.3). He was voted Horse of the Year in 1960 and 1961. "The Butler" was syndicated at four for a record $600,000 and after winning 37 of 50 races, retired a year later to Fair Chance Farm, Washington Court House, OH, the only home he knew in his twenty-two years of stud duty. He died in 1983 at age twenty-seven.

ADIOS HARRY p, 2, 2:04.2h; 3, 1:58.3; 4, 1:55m [1951-1982]
Adios Harry was bred by L. T. Hempt of Harrisburg, PA. He was an Immortal Adios-Helen Win by Mc I Win foal. Adios Harry was owned by J. Howard Lyons of Harrington, DE and trained (and often driven) by son, Luther Lyons. Adios Harry was considered a temperamental horse, who was usually a front runner. At two, he won the Bloomsburg Fair Stake, and at three, driven by Morris MacDonald, he won the 1954 Little Brown Jug in three straight heats of 2:013/5, 2:023/5 and 2:032/5. In so doing, he set a new three-heat record for three-year-old pacers on a half-mile track. In 1955, as a four-year-old, Adios Harry clocked six 2:00 miles, one over a half-mile track, to become the fifth pacer to do so up to that time in history. That same year he set three world records: 1:592/5 at Roosevelt Raceway's half-mile track, 3:04.2, again at Roosevelt in the 1½-mile Nassau Pace; and at Vernon Downs, NY, he captured pacing's first 1:55 mile; Adios Harry held this record for 16 years. He was the leading money winning pacer and was named 1955 Aged Pacer of the Year. By the time he was five, Adios Harry held 12 world pacing records, at distances ranging from a mile to a mile and a half. He was featured on the front cover of the July 23, 2022 issue of Sports Illustrated, under the banner: "ADIOS HARRY: WORLD'S FASTEST PACER." That year, he ranked second in the All-Time Leading Money-Winning Pacers list. Twelve months later he was named the All-Time Standardbred Earner, for both gaits, surpassing the earnings of Immortal Pronto Don, who had earned $332,363. Harry's lifetime earnings totaled $345,433. Adios Harry, who stood at stud at Sugar Hill Farms, Greenwood, DE, sired 352 pacers, 26 in 2:00 and 187 in 2:05. He sired dams of 698 pacers, 114 in 2:00, 466 in 2:05.

ALBATROSS p, 4, 1:54.3f 1998 [1968-1998]
A Meadow Skipper-Voodoo Hanover-Dancer Hanover foal, Albatross was the winner of 14 of 17 starts at two for earnings of $183,540 and a mark of 1:57.4. He was owned by Bert James of Windsor, Ontario and trained by Harry Harvey, the 1953 Hambletonian winning driver. He was syndicated early in his three-year-old season for $1.25 million—a record for a horse at that point in his career. In the Stanley Dancer Stable in 1971, Albatross won 25 of 28 starts and $558,009. As a four-year-old, he started 26 times, winning 20 and earning $459,921, bringing his lifetime earnings to $1,201,470. In April 1972 he was re-syndicated for $2.5 million. The Hanover Shoe Farms, where Albatross began his stud duties in 1973, held a majority interest in him.
World champion at 2, 3 and 4, Albatross was voted two-year-old Pacer of the Year and Horse of the Year at 3 and 4 (1971 and 1972). In total he was the winner in 59 of 71 starts and retired as the all-time leading money-winning pacer. Through 1998 his 2,546 sons and daughters, have earned $130.7 million and taken 1,174 2:00 records. At age 30, he had 61 yearlings and was bred to 85 mares. At the top of his list of progeny is Niatross, also a two-time Horse of the Year (1979 and 80) and 1997 Living Horse Hall of Fame inductee. Niatross was the first Standardbred to break the 1:50 barrier (1:49.1 time trial at Lexington). Albatross' daughter, Fan Hanover p, 4, T1:50.4 is the only filly to win The Little Brown Jug, in 1981, the year she was also named Horse of the Year. Albatross also sired Little Brown Jug winners Jaguar Spur, Merger and Colt Fortysix. Albatross, who was inducted into the Living Horse Hall of Fame in 1996, spent his final years at stud at the Hanover Shoe Farms, Hanover PA. He died August 5, 2022 at age 30 and is buried in the farm's cemetery.

GEORGE H. ALEXANDER 1990 [1911-1988]
"A trotting man" George Alexander purchased his first horse, the mare Eudora Hanover, in 1958. For the next three decades, until his death in October, 1988 at the age of seventy-six, Alexander's Chestnut Farm in Sugar Grove, IL produced horses that have made significant contributions to modern trotting, including Flamboyant, Cold Comfort, Super Juan, Glynis Hanover and Spicy Scent. Born October 29, 2022 in Aurora, IL, Alexander was a civic leader in his community. Besides breeding Standardbreds and raising feeder cattle at his 1,500 acre farm, he was very active in the administrative side of the Standardbred industry. He held directorships in The Hambletonian Society. Lexington Trots Breeders' Association and was a trustee of The Trotting Horse Museum/Hall of Fame of the Trotter and president of the Northern Illinois Horse Show Association.

ROBERT A. ALEXANDER 1993 [1819-1867]
What is termed "organized" breeding, which was to evolve into the "Standard" and eventually the breed of today, the Standardbred, originated at Woodburn Farm, Spring Station, Ky. It was the first establishment devoted to systematic, thoroughly planned and carefully conducted race-horse production, both Standardbred and Thoroughbred in America. Robert A. Alexander, born in 1819, became the owner of Woodburn after his father's death and made it the foremost stock farm in America. He died in 1867.

ALIX t, 2:03¾ 1993 [1888-1901]
The daughter of Patronage and Atlanta, Alix was owned by Daniel Hayes of Muscatne, IA, and born In 1888.
Affectionately referred to as "Sweet Little Alix", the career of this "Queen of the Turf" Included her holding the world's trotting championship for six years (1894-1900), established at C. W. Williams new "dead-level" track at Galesburg, IL. However, the mare's nine-heat victory in the $15,000 Free-For-All at Chicago's Washington Park in 1893 was her most memorable race. From that day Alix became dear to "every lover of fair play", as well as a great performer. She had two foals and died in October 1901 at age 13.

EDWARD H. ALLEN 1979 [1870-1950]
A native of Marion, IA, Ed Allen was well known as a trainer-driver in the Midwest, but did not achieve nationwide fame until 1918, when he took over the reins of "Single G., the horse that time forgot", later acclaimed as "pacer of the first half of the century". Allen's training and driving career spanned 65 years. He had just returned to the Iowa State Fairgrounds to begin training for the 1950 season, when he passed away.

WILLIAM J. ANDREWS 1958 [1864-1924]
Top trainer and driver of his day and well known around the country for years, there is little known of "Billy" Andrews' early life. But it is said that he came out of Buffalo in 1890 to Village Farm in East Aurora, NY. He made Village Farm famous with Mascot, Soprano and Hamburg Belle. He won The Charter Oak three times, Transylvania twice and The Kentucky Futurity. He was the first man to drive a horse in 2:04 with Mascot, to drive a horse in 2:00½ with John R. Gentry, and a mare in 2:01¾ with Hamburg Belle. Andrews would not drive a hoppled pacer, yet made many pacers famous. He also trained for John Madden, E. H. Harriman, H. K. Devereux and William Simpson. He died on August 17, 1926.

GUY "SONNY" ANTONACCI 2001 [1930-2001]
Sonny Antonacci, raised in Lindenhurst, NY, cited nearby Roosevelt Raceway, former capital of the harness racing world, as the reason he became a fan of the sport.
In the mid-60s Sonny, his cousin Frank J. Antonacci and other family members, the Lomanginos, formed Lindys Farm, taking the stable name from their Hambletonian and Triple Crown winner, Lindy's Pride 3,1:57.3m ($396,209.). Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, this great racehorse, in 1969, won the Trotting Triple Crown and was named Trotter of the Year. He went on to sire two world record-holding sons, Lindy's Crown 4,1:54.4m ($262,048.) and Cornstalk 3,1:53.4m ($146,511.). When "Sonny," as he was affectionately known, and his family moved to the Somersville, Connecticut countryside in the 1970s, he launched Lindy Farms of Conn. One of the first mares Sonny owned was A. C.'s Nancy. She was the grand-dam of Probe 3,1:54.3m ($436,812.), the 1989 Hambletonian dead heat winner (with Park Avenue Joe). In partnership with others, Guy Antonacci was responsible for no fewer than four Hambletonian winners: As Lindy Farms of Conn., (1969) Lindy's Pride and (1989) Probe; and as Lindy Racing Stable, (1990) Harmonious 3,1:53.2m ($1.036 million), who was also 1990 Trotter of the Year, and 1994 Hambletonian winner, Victory Dream 3,1:53.2m ($1.017 million). Another top performer Sonny owned was Lindy Lane 3,1:53m ($895,110.), who almost gave him a fifth Hambletonian title in the 1996 event, with a second-place finish. Lindy Racing, under the direction of his sons, Gerald and Frank, is a co-owner of two-time Horse of the Year, Moni Maker 7,1:52.1 m, who retired in 2000 the richest Standardbred of all time ($5.589 million). An international trotting star, she captured races all over the world, including the Breeders Crown, Nat Ray, Trot Mondial, Prix de France, Elitlopp and Prix d'Amerique. Guy Antonacci was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2000. He passed away the following year, at the age of seventy-one.

Frank Antonacci 1999 [ - ]

Sam Anzalone 1995 [ - ]

ARION t, 2:07¾ 1956 [1889-1917]
The son of Electioneer and Manette, Arion was bred and foaled at Palo Alto Farm in California in 1889. As a two-year-old he lowered the trotting record for a high-wheel sulky to 2:10¾. A short time later, he was purchased by J. Malcolm Forbes for $125,000, the highest price ever paid for any horse at that time. At four years of age, in the hands of John Dickerson, he took his mark of 2:07¾. He was then retired to Forbes Farm. After the death of Forbes he was purchased at auction by M. W. Savage. A year later, upon Savage's death in 1916, Arion was sent to Kentucky, where he died in 1917.

ARION GUY t, 1:59½ 1957 [1917-1942]
A son of Guy Axworthy and Margaret Parrish, Arion Guy was foaled at Jacob Rupert's Hudson River Farm, Poughkeepsie, NY in 1917. While his racing career did not extend over a lengthy time, he was the winner of The Kentucky Futurity in 1920. In that year he suffered but one defeat. As a four-year-old he took his mark of 1:59½. He was an outstanding sire with 207 Standard horses of both gaits to his credit, 91 in the 2:10 list, and 14 in the 2:05 list. He died in Kentucky in 1942.

ARMBRO FLIGHT 2,2:04.4; 3, 1:59 1998 [1962-1995]
A daughter of Star's Pride and Hambletonian winner, Helicopter, Armbro Flight won 20 of 26 starts at two, with 4 seconds and 2 thirds. At three, she won 22 out of 26 races, including the Kentucky Futurity over the top colt Noble Victory. This was a two-heat event in which she beat him from behind in the first heat and from on top in the second. The effort was described as "awesome" and had horsemen calling her "one of the great trotting mares of all time".
A month earlier, she had lost by a head to finish second to Egyptian Candor in a grueling four-heat Hambletonian. The next week, at Indianapolis, she defeated Noble Victory in the race-off for the Horseman Futurity, with a blistering last quarter in :26.2. Her next stop before Lexington was Delaware, OH and her 11 length, win, in 1:59.lh, in the Walnut Hall Farm Stake, set a World Record for a trotting mare of any age on a half mile track. Later that year she was voted the 1965 Three-year-old Trotter of the Year over her male rival, Noble Victory.
Armbro Flight had 9 wins in 13 starts as a four-year-old. Her most prominent race was her final career start, the 1966, 1¼ mile $100,000 Roosevelt International, in which she established a new stakes record of 2:31.3h. She ended her racing career with 51 wins in 65 starts, with 8 seconds and 4 thirds for $493,602 in total earnings.
As a broodmare she produced the winners of over $2 million, including Hambletonian winner Armbro Goal, as well as Armbro Regina and Armbro Ermine. She is buried at the Armstrong Brothers' farm, Inglewood, Ontario, Canada, where she lived to the grand age of thirty-three.

J. ELGIN ARMSTRONG 1981 [1897-1978]
Armstrong was born on a farm near Brampton, Ontario in 1897. He made a good living as a farmer, cattle breeder and later as a contractor-builder of many of Canada's highways and airport runways. When he turned to racing harness horses, he was equally successful. His filly Helicopter was the first Canadian-owned horse to win the Hambletonian. She later produced Ontario's leading trotting sire Armbro Jet, as well as Armbro Flight, winner of the 1966 Roosevelt International. Armstrong-bred horses have won many major stakes, including The Little Brown Jug, The Cane and The Messenger. A member of The Hambletonian Society and trustee of The Trotting Horse Museum/Hall of Fame of the Trotter, he died in 1978 in Pompano Beach, FL.

ARNIE ALMAHURST t, T1:57.2 1984 [1970-1982]
Bred by Almahurst Farm, the son of Speedy Scot and Ambitious Blaze was foaled in 1970. He set several national marks as a two-year-old, and won a number of major stakes, including The Matron, The International Stallion, The Hanover and The Ohio Standardbred. As a three-year-old he won The Kentucky Futurity with Joe O'Brien in the sulky. He sired such outstanding trotters as Florida Pro and Arndon, who set a world record 1:54 for the mile. Arnie Almahurst died suddenly at age twelve at Ohio State University, his last owners being the Van Lennep' of Castleton Farms.

Jimmy Arthur

Artsplace

CATHERINE "KATIE" AULT 1981 [1924-1980]
Daughter of prominent Georgia horseman David L. Brown, "Katie" and her husband Chester took over her father's horse farm upon his death in 1966 and made it a showplace. They replaced the 117 harness horses on the Wildwood, GA farm with Standardbreds of Grand Circuit quality. In 1968 they purchased a Tennessee-bred yearling named Steady Star, who startled the harness world with his 1:584/5 mile (through a thunderstorm) at the age of two; his 1:54 at three; and his 1:52 time trial at four, an all-time pacing record that stood for ten years. Mrs. Ault died in 1980 in Chattanooga, Tn.

EARLE B. AVERY 1978 [1894-1977]
Born in 1894, the son of a well-to-do lumberman-farmer, he started driving match races over the main streets of his native Knowlesville, N.B., Canada. His first win at a track came in 1919. For the next thirty-three years he combined a professional driving career with potato farming. In 1955 he Joined Norman Woolworth's Clearview Farm as head trainer-driver, handling such outstanding performers as Egyptian Princess, Porterhouse, Sh Boom, Pay Dirt, Gun Runner and Meadow Skipper. In 1963 he drove Meadow Skipper to a world record win at Lexington, KY in 1:55.1, the fastest time of his driving career. He died in 1977 in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada.

AXTELL t, 2:12 1955 [1886-1906]
Axtell was foaled in 1886, son of William L. out of the non-Standard mare Lou. His breeder was C. W. Williams of Independence, IA. Trained by Williams, he lowered the two-year-old stallion record to 2:23 and won every race in which he started. As a three-year-old he again won every start and lowered the world's stallion record to 2:12. In 1889 Williams made history by selling him to a syndicate for $105,000, the highest price ever paid for a horse of any kind at that time. He broke down as a four-year-old and never raced again, but retired to stud. His progeny included the foundation sire Axworthy, 2:15½, and he became one of the highest priced sires of his day. His 1891 stud fee was $1,000. He died on August 19, 2022 in Terre Haute, IN.

AXWORTHY t, 2:15½ 1953 [1892-1917]
A chestnut colt by Axtell out of Marguerite, he was foaled in 1892 at Warren Park Farm, Terre Haute, IN. Axworthy was raced as a two-year-old but won only a few races and was not staked for the season. The next year he broke down after taking a record of 2:15½ and was retired. He was sold to John Shults, Brooklyn, NY at auction for $500. When the first crop of Axworthy began to appear it was evident that he was a wonderful sire. In 1906 he was sold at public auction to William Simpson of Cuba, NY for $21,000. Axworthy was a sire of extreme speed and was responsible for 144 trotters and 6 pacers. He is one of the five great modern progenitors of the Standardbred. He died on Simpson's Lexington, KY farm in the charge of R.L. Nash in 1917.

AYRES 2, 2:00.1h; 3, 1:56.4m 1999 [1961-1990]
A Star's Pride-Arpege foal, bred by Mrs. Charlotte Sheppard of Hanover Shoe Farms, Ayres, in 1964 became the third horse to win trotting's Triple Crown. He set stakes records in the Yonker's Futurity and the Hambletonian and his 1:56.4 mile in the Hambletonian at Du Quoin equaled the then all-age world mark for trotters.
Even an ankle injury sustained the morning of the Kentucky Futurity wasn't enough to slow Ayres down as he captured the final leg of the Triple Crown in straight heats of 1:58.2 and 1:59.2. At the time, the 1:58.1 mile was the second fastest in the race's history.
Ayres won 20 of his 30 lifetime starts and earned $254,027. He was voted three-year-old Trotter of the Year in 1964 and in addition to his Triple Crown victories, he captured the Hanover-Hempt Stakes, Arden Downs Stakes, Review Futurity and George Wilkes Stakes.
Ayres is the sire of 297 standard performers with 15 in 2:00 and 149 in 2:05. His progeny have earned more than $10 million.
His outstanding performers include two Hambletonian winners, Timothy T, who earned three-year-old Trotter of the Year honors in 1970, Christopher T who won the Hambletonian in 1974. Ayres is the sire of 25 sires. His broodmare credits include 482 standard performers with 60 in 2:00, one in 1:55 and 296 in 2:05. They have combined earnings of over $13 million. His broodmare credits include the outstanding Pizzaz, Ahhh, Descent and Why Not.
Ayres died and was buried at Hanover Shoe Farms, Hanover PA, on January 30, 1990, at age 29.