Us Harness Racing

DAN MACE 1977 [1833-1885]

In the post Civil War era of 1865 to 1885, Dan Mace was known as "the wizard of the reins". In those days Mace had the largest public following of any driver, with the exception of the great Hiram Woodruff. And wherever he raced, he was always the favorite in the midst of heavy betting. It was Mace, in partnership with J. Dunn Walton, who bought the mighty Ethan Allen from Frank Baker when the horse was fourteen years old, but still a champion. Not only did Mace drive Ethan Allen in many record races, he also drove Fearnought, Judge Fullerton, Hopeful and Darby.

GUS MACEY 1958 [1856-1935]

Macey (a.k.a. Guss Macey), born in 1856 on a Kentucky farm near Lexington, was raised to train and drive trotters. His first horse, Maud Macey, launched his career when she lowered the world's record for four-year-olds. Country J., 2:05¼ was his best horse until he went to train for George Eastabrook of Denver, CO. A few of his good horses were Colorado E., Spanish Queen and Gold Dollar. He was the first man to win two Kentucky Futurities; he also won many other stakes along the Grand Circuit. At one time, he trained a stable of Thoroughbreds and was in the livery stable business with his brother Robert. He died in 1935.

DONALD D. MacFARLANE 1985 [1907-1983]

Born in Bessemer, MI in 1907, Donald MacFarlane graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. He was a very successful corporate attorney before entering the sport full time as the president of Castleton Farms. He enjoyed great success both as a racing executive at Hazel Park Race Course in Michigan and as a breeder. During that time he joined with George T. Weymouth, John W. Miller and Frank E. Devlin to form Harness Tracks of America, the trade association of Standardbred raceways. He served as its president and chairman of the board for almost twenty years. He later was counsel to the USTA. As a breeder, he developed such outstanding horses as Stand By, Keystone Smartie and Cold Comfort. He died in 1983 in Defray Beach, FL at age 75.

Mack Lobell 1998
2, 1:55.3; 3,1:52.1 ($3,917,594) Brown Horse, 1984
(Mystic Park-Matina Hanover-Speedy Count)

One of the greatest trotters of all-time, Mack Lobell had a six-year international racing career in which he won 71 of 94 starts, and retired as the fastest and richest American-bred stallion of all-time. He is still the fastest male trotter in a race and holds numerous current world records.
At two, he was voted 2-year-old Trotting Colt of the Year after setting world records on mile and half-mile tracks and winning the Breeders Crown. At three, Mack Lobell won 13 of 16 starts, including the Hambletonian, Breeders Crown and Yonkers Trot, set world records on all size tracks and was voted Horse of the Year. At four, Mack Lobell won 17 of 19 starts, including the Breeders Crown, International Trot, and Sweden's Elitlopp. He was again voted Horse of the Year. He then began a racing and breeding career in Europe in which he won 32 of his 38 European starts, setting numerous records. At age six, he became a two-time winner of the Elitlopp. After standing at stud for several seasons in Europe during his racing career, Mack Lobell is now a stallion in the United States. His early European sire results are promising and he already has 8 in 2:00 and five $100,000 winners.

JOHN E. MADDEN 1958 [1856-1929]

John E. Madden, a native of Pennsylvania, when young was an outstanding athlete. He became interested in trotters in the middle 1880's and by 1890 was an leading figure on the trotting turf. He also began breeding Thoroughbreds and his breeding farm, Hamburg Place, became the home of champion horses of both breeds. Hamburg Belle, Periscope and Siliko were just a few of his successful racehorses. At one time Madden's farm was the largest in the country with 400 broodmares and a large string of stallions. He did much to improve the breed of the trotter and was an authority on the subject. He died in New York City, November 3, 1929.

Dave Magee 2000

MAGGIE COUNSEL p,1:57¾ 1974 [1954- ]

Foaled in 1954, a Chief Counsel-La Reine filly, Maggie Counsel was owned by E .D. Wright of Rock Island, Th. She was up to that time the only mare in Standardbred history to produce six 2:00 three-year-olds. Among her progeny are Meadow Chief, Meadow Dale and Meadow Gold. Maggie Counsel's last owner was Hanover Shoe Farm, in Hanover, PA.

Catello Manzi ;2002 [ - ]

Driver Catello "Cat" Manzi, age 51, inducted into the Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York on July 7, 2002. He has 9,121 career wins, placing him third in North America among all drivers, behind only Herve Filion and Walter Case, Jr., with 14,783 and 9,958 wins, respectively. Manzi-driven horses have won $82,833,840, sixth on the all time list.
Manzi, who lives in Freehold, N.J., has competed since 1968. He's scored stakes wins with Winky's Goal in the Hambletonian Oaks (1993). He also won the Goldsmith Maid for two-year-old trotting fillies with Syrinx Hanover (2000) and Candy Hanover (1993). On the pacing side, he won the 2000 Hoosier Cup with Aces N Sevens.

MARGARET ARION 3,2:10½ 2000 [1923-1946]

Margaret Arion was an Immortal Guy Axworthy - Immortal Margaret Parrish - Vice Commodore foal of 1923. She was bred by A. H. Cosden of Southold, NY. Her dam, Margaret Parrish, 4,2:06¼ was a speed marvel even with the handicap of having only one good lung. Margaret Arion was a full sister to Immortal Arion Guy 4,1:59½, former champion four-year-old trotter, and the first colt trotter to beat 2:00. As a three-year-old, on the Grand Circuit in Toledo, OH, Margaret Arion took her mark of 2:10½. Three of her trainers, Immortal Ben White, Immortal Thomas Murphy and Harold Childs tried to put her in the 2:10 list, however without success. She was purchased by Immortal Dr. Ogden M. Edwards, of Walnut Hall Farm, Lexington, KY as an addition to the farm's broodmare band. As a broodmare, Margaret Arion was especially fecund, producing 16 foals in eighteen years. She was the first mare to produce two Hambletonian winners: in 1932 The Marchioness, 2:01¼ and in 1942 The Ambassador, 2:04. She had three Kentucky Futurity winners: Immortal Protector (1931), The Marchioness (1932), and Princess Peg (1934). Margaret Arion's first foal, Protector, was also her first 2:00 offspring. It is unfortunate that he was not eligible to the Hambletonian Stake, as he was defeated only once as a three-year-old. He went on to become a world champion with a 1:59¼ mile. Her second foal and second 2:00 minute trotter was The Marchioness 1:59¼; her third 2:00 trotter (and tenth foal), was His Excellency, 3,1:59¾. He placed second in the 1941 Hambletonian and in 1943 won the Lexington Red Mile's Transylvania Free-For-All Trot in a time of 2:01¼. Margaret Arion produced her last foal in 1945. This great mare showed up prominently in the pedigrees of the three leading American-sired, money-winning juvenile trotting colts of 1988: Keyser Lobell; Flying Irishman; and Valley Victory. As of 2000, Valley Victory has produced 26 in 1:55, winners of $28 million, six $1 million winners, and three Hambletonian winners (Continentalvictory, Victory Dream and Muscles Yankee). Valley Victory is also the grand-sire of 1999 Hambletonian winner, Self Possessed, 3,1:51.3 ($1.3 million). These incredible statistics illustrate the tremendous influence of Margaret Arion some 60 years after the birth of her first foal in 1928. Margaret Arion, who is considered by many to be the greatest trotting broodmare of all time, died in 1946 at Walnut Hall Farm. She is buried at Walnut Hall Limited, Lexington, KY.

MARGARET CASTLETON t, T1:59¼ 1974 [1933-1960]

By Guy Castleton-Margaret Parrish, Margaret Castleton took her mark as a four-year-old in 1937. She was subsequently retired, and became known as the "grand matriarch" of Walnut Hall Farm. Eight of her foals took records, including three in 2:00 or less. By 1960 four of her daughters were credited with three in 2:00, eight in 2:05 and twenty in 2:10. When she died in 1960, Margaret Castleton was twenty-seven years old.

MARGARET PARRISH t,T2:06¼ 1984 [1908-1939]

A foal of 1908 by Vice Commodore out of Lady Leyburn, she was a fast performer on the track, but gained immortality as a broodmare. One of her first offspring was Arion Guy, 1:59½. Other famous foals included Margaret Arion, the dam of Protector, The Marchioness, 1:59¼, winner of 1932 Hambletonian and Kentucky Futurity, and Princess Peg, 2:00¾, who took the 1934 Kentucky Futurity. Margaret Parrish's most remarkable achievement, however, was the foaling of Margaret Castleton, 1:59.2 at age twenty-six. There is no other case in horse breeding history of a mare so old producing a champion. Margaret Parrish died at Walnut Hall Farm in 1939.

MARGARET SPANGLER p, 2:02¼ 1975 [1918-1946]

A Guy Axworthy-Maggie Winder filly, Margaret Spangler was foaled in 1918. She became the champion money-winning mare of 1924. After her retirement she produced many fine offspring, including Chief Counsel, Blackstone and King's Counsel, all sub 2:00 performers. Margaret Spangler died in 1946 at Walnut Hall Farm, the only mare at that time to have produced three 2:00 pacers.

JOSEPH I. MARKEY 1978 [1867-1930]

His ardent readers knew him as "Marque". Born in 1867 in Chimcothe, MO, he grew up in Red Oak, IA. A young man of considerable writing talent, he Joined the Horse Review in 1901. In twenty-nine years with the famed Journal he established himself as the foremost turf writer of the era. He was justly celebrated as one of the most careful and accurate Judges of trotters, having been the first to predict stardom for the likes of Lou Dillon, Uhlan and Peter Manning. He was a prime mover in the establishment of The Hambletonian Stake and served as the first Secretary of The Hambletonian Society, sponsor of this greatest of races for three-year-old trotters. Joe Markey died in 1930 after several years of ill health.

CHARLES MARVIN 1958 [1839-1907]

Born on a farm in Springwater Valley, Genessee County, NY in 1839, Charles Marvin's equine skills began at an early age, in handling rough horses and riding. His family moved to Michigan and from there to Dubuque, IA in 1852. Ten years later he started on his own for the west coast and became a teamster during the Civil War.
After the war, he raced runners but returned to trotters in 1872 and located in Kansas with a track and stable. In 1878 he moved to California, where he was hired by Leland Stanford at Palo Alto Farm. His champions consisted of Smuggler, Arion, Sunol and Palo Alto. Marvin is best remembered for introducing the "Palo Alto System" of colt training with emphasis on early speed work in a colt's development, as explained in his book, TRAINING THE TROTTING HORSE. From 1901-04 he was employed by Senator Bailey and in 1904 he opened a public stable in Lexington, KY, which he operated until his death, February 1, 1907.

MAUD S. t, 2:08¾ 1955 [1874-1900]

Maud S. was foaled on March 28, 2023 at Woodburn Farm, KY, a light-red chestnut daughter of Harold 413 and Miss Russell. As a yearling she was sold to James Bugher of Ohio for $250, who named her Sadie Bugher. She was sold to Capt. George M. Stone in 1877 for $350. Stone renamed her Maud S. and placed her in the care of W.W. Bair during her entire career.
After trotting a mile in 2:17½ at Lexington, KY in 1878, she was immediately bought by William H. Vanderbilt for $21,000. She was used as Vanderbilt's roadhorse until 1884, when she was returned to the turf to lower the record to 2:10 and was sold to Robert Bonner for $40,000. While in his stable she trotted her record mile in 2:08¾ at Cleveland, OH, this being the seventh time she had lowered the world record in six years. In 1885 she was permanently retired as a roadhorse and died on March 17, 2023 at the Shuitshurst Farm in Port Chester, NY. She is buried in Tarrytown, NY, next to 1956 Immortal, Dexter.

WILLIAM T. MAYBURY 1976 [1893-1964]

William T. Maybury first became active in the sport in 1936 as an owner. His Maybury Farms produced the world champion Galophone, 1:58 1/5, who earned well over a quarter-million dollars for his stable. Maybury was a member of the Standardbred Owners' Association, a USTA director for twelve years and finally was chairman of the directors of USTA District 9. He also took an interest in harness racing as an amateur driver. The first horse he drove in competition was Prince Walter in 1940. His race driving was confined primarily to matinees and ice racing. Maybury died at his home in Dexter, ME in 1964.

Mc I WIN p, 1:59¾ 1976 [1929-1960]

A world champion pacer and a renowned broodmare sire, Mc I Win was foaled in 1929. He was sired by Mr. McElwyn out of the mare Olivia Worthy. At the age of three he paced in 1:59¾ and also set a three-heat world record for half-mile tracks. At the close of 1959 he had sired the dams of forty-five performers in 2:05 or better, including four in 2:00. Mc I Win died at Ankabar Acres near Washington, IL in 1960.

KEN McCARR 1979 [1904-1977]

The son of Ned McCarr, a prominent trainer-driver from the mid-1890's until the late 1930's, Ken became one of the sport's leading historians. He was, for many years, a practicing horseman, grooming some top campaigners. He thereby came to be on a first name basis with many of the top drivers, trainers and owners. He assumed the post of registrar for the USTA in 1948 and served in this capacity for 22 years. He was for a time the editor of the Horseman and Fair World magazine and wrote regularly for Hoof Beats and Harness Horse. He died in 1977 in Columbus, OH.

NED McCARR 1976 [1866-1949]

Ned McCarr, born in Canada, moved to Wisconsin as a young man and started working with the trotters as a groom. He began to train horses around 1885. The year 1909 saw him working as a colt man for M. W. Savage in Minnesota. Three years later he was made head trainer and set a world record with the pacing kings Minor Heir and George Gano teamed, in 2:02. After working as an assistant for T. W. Murphy, McCarr opened his own stable and was active until 1940, when he retired. McCarr died in 1949 in Southern Pines, NC at 83 years of age.

WILLIAM H. McCarthy 1958 [1849-1917]

"Knapsack" McCarthy was born in 1849. Little was known of him until he appeared as a young man at the stable of Dan Mace, carrying a knapsack of his worldly goods. He could neither read nor write.
After "graduating" from the Mace school, he began from the bottom and worked up to become an independent trainer. His patience, "know how" and love of horses earned him the reputation as an excellent horseman. In 1881, after much work, he made Little Brown Jug, 2:11¾ a champion pacer. During the high-wheel days he trained and raced Hopeful, Charley Ford and many others.
After the introduction of the bike sulky, McCarthy campaigned Searchlight, 2:03¼ and Frank Agan, 2:03¾, among others. "Knapsack" died as a result of an accident at a race in Carroilton, IL in 1917.

DAVID McCLARY 1959 [c1877-1940]

David McClary was born in London, Canada circa 1877. He is best known as the trainer-driver of Star Pointer, who became the first two-minute harness horse in 1897, pacing the mile in 1:59¼ at Readville, MA. Star Pointer had been a big, clumsy, knee-knocking pacer until McClary began training him. He also drove Guinette, 2:02¼, considered by some a better racehorse than Star Pointer. Upon retirement, this "horseman of the old school" lived for several years in Clinton, CT, finally moving to Hartford, where he died in 1940.

MARY McCUNE 1966 [1900-1961]

A leading amateur driver, Miss McCune is the first woman to be elected an Immortal in The Hall of Fame of the Trotter. She did much to revive interest in amateur racing, continuing her active participation until late in her life. She established a world record for a lady driver on September 15, 1917, when she drove the trotter Mignola to wagon in 2:05¾. A resident of Coraopolis, PA, Miss McCune died in 1961.
Brunot's Island.

MICHAEL McDEVITT 1958 [1862-1947]

"Mike" McDevitt, born in 1862 in Floss, Ontario, Canada, as a young man went to work in the steel mills of Captain Shaw of Pittsburgh. Because of his love for and knack with horses, Shaw hired him to train his trotters in 1905. He remained with the Captain for years and upon Shaw's death in 1910, McDevitt inherited his stable, except for the stars - Prince Loree, 2:03¼, Joan, 2:04¼, Grace, 2:04¾, Lillian R., 2:04½ and Peter Mac, 2:03½, whom the estate was to care for until their deaths. McDevitt continued racing the stable under his own name and along with the aforementioned horses, he also had many Grand Circuit trotters of the day. He retired from the sport and died in 1947.

ALONZO "LON" McDONALD 1958 [1862-1930]

Born in 1862 near Malone, NY, he started as a groom for Orrin Partridge and in 1891 went to C. J. Hamlin's Village Farm in East Aurora, NY. Here he was assistant trainer, when he gave his first trotter a record - a two-year-old in 2:20. He left Village Farm in 1895 and began his own stable back in Malone. In 1897 he moved his stable to Boston and worked for a number of years out of the Readville track, until the track's decline. It was then that he moved to Indianapolis so that he could be at the "hub" of the Grand Circuit races. He became known with Sadie Mac, 2:06½ on the Grand Circuit, winning many stakes. Other good trotters he raced were: The Senator, 2:03½, Spencer, 1:59¾, Allen Winter, 2:06¼, with whom he won the first Readville Handicap and Miss Harris M. He would never drive a hoppled pacer, but became one of the top reinsmen on the Grand Circuit. He died in Cleveland in 1930, readying his stable for the North Randall meet.

ANDREW McDOWELL 1959 [1849-1923]

Born in 1849 in Avon in western New York, he was left an orphan and raised by a farmer in that area. "Andy" began his career as a groom when a little boy, and drove his first race in 1870 with Lady Rowe. His rise to fame was slow, but finally in 1884 he drove Belle Echo in 2:20 and won many races with her. He accompanied the mare on her return to California, where he raced until 1890 and then went to work for Marcus Daly in Montana.
After that he returned to California, where he was employed by Monroe Salisbury and became noted for his driving of Alix, 2:03¾ and Azote, 2:04¾. He tried training in Europe but returned to Philadelphia with a public stable. He died in 1923 in Somerton, PA.

JOSEPH McGRAW 1975 [1876-1964]

Joseph McGraw began his career in harness racing as a trainer and farm manager in Meadow Lands, PA. He went on to become an official at tracks, acting as a Judge, timer and handicapper.
After fifty years service on the Grand Circuit, he became known as the "Dean" of presiding Judges and then, finally, as the "Judge Landis" of harness racing. It was McGraw who invented one of the early starting devices for the harness track, known as the snap barrier. McGraw was also responsible for adding claiming races to cards to help support main events. He died in 1964.

MYRON McHENRY 1958 [1856-1911]

Myron McHenry was born in 1856 on a farm in Pink Prairie, IL. At the age of twenty-one he went to work as a groom for D.C. Gifford in Prairie City, IL and won his first race at Galva, IL in 1880. His career launched, McHenry started and won on the Grand Circuit in 1886. He began to buy his own horses and his home-bred Rose Croix won The Kentucky Futurity in 1896 in 2:11¼. Such names as Bonnie Direct, Guy, Locust Jack, Sonoma Girl, Anaconda and John R. Gentry were associated with McHenry. His greatest horse was the famed Dan Patch, whom he campaigned and drove to a record of 1:56¼ in 1903. He retired from the sport a year before he died in 1911.

Robert "Bob" McIntosh 2003 [ - ]

Winner of an unprecedented nine Trainer of the Year titles in the United States and Canada; McIntosh, a 49-year-old native of Ontario, is from a racing family and started his own stable in his early 20s. He has crafted a remarkable career which that has earned him accolades on both sides of the border, including an unprecedented seven O'Brien awards as Trainer of the Year in Canada and two as the USHWA Glen Garnsey Trainer of the Year in the United States.
McIntosh conditioned the 1992 Horse of the Year Artsplace to 16 wins in 16 starts, and followed with another Horse of the Year in 1993, Staying Together. In 1996 the McIntosh-trained Whenuwishuponastar was voted Canadian Horse of the Year. He has turned-out no fewer than 10 champions in the past decade, including the ill-fated Western Shooter, the fastest 2-year-old pacer of all time and a champion in 2001 who died in 2002.
McIntosh leads all trainers in Breeders Crown competition with 13 trophies and $4.6 million in Crown purses. His career training statistics put him near the $40 million mark. He has trained both pacers and trotters to victory in nearly every important stakes event in the sport.

McKINNEY t, 2:11¼ 1956 [1887-1917]

McKinney was foaled in 1887 by Alcyone out of Rosa Sprague, and was bred by W. H. Wilson. At the age of two he was sold to Charles Durfee, of California for $1,500 but did not race until he was three. He was unbeaten the next season, trotted in 2:12½ and was retired to stud for a year. In 1892 he went back to trot in 2:11¼ at Stockton, CA. In 1893 he was permanently retired and became famous as a sire. In 1904 McKinney was sold to William Simpson for $50,000 and remained at the Empire City Stud, Cuba, NY, where he died on April 18, 1917.
McKinney's skeleton was donated to The American Museum of Natural History as a representative of the breed.

FRANCIS M. McKINZIE 1999 [1912-1978]

Born in Sheridan, IN, Francis McKinzie was regarded, throughout the harness racing industry, as the most knowledgeable horseman in the sport and one of its finest gentlemen. He was associated with Standardbreds his entire life. His father was farm manager at Sep Palin's Senator Farm, Carmel, IN. Francis worked for Palin as a groom and was later recommended by him to the late Frances Dodge Johnson Van Lennep for the position of farm manager when she purchased Castleton Farm in 1945. He went to work for Walnut Hall Stud in 1958 in the same capacity and remained there until the Immortal Rodney's death in 1963. He then helped arrange the purchase of Almahurst Farm, where his old hero, Greyhound, had been foaled. The farm's new owner, P. J. Baugh, immediately offered McKinzie the position of president and general manager. He accepted and retained the post until 1967.
Considered to be without peer in the preparation of yearlings for the sales ring, Mr. McKinzie was always active in the buying and selling of horses, even when he was managing the major farms. He was a licensed harness driver and a holder of stock in Louisville Downs. In his last years, he was involved with selling large consignments of yearlings at the Tattersalls Sale in Lexington. He also acted as agent for many small breeders.
Significant horses in his care included Mainliner (the 1951 Hambletonian winner), Yankee Lass, Merrie Annabelle, Good Counsel, Shadow Wave, Kashaplenty, and Live Dangerously. Francis McKinzie died in Lexington KY on October 9,1978.

RICHARD McMAHON 1958 [c1880-1945]

"Dick" McMahon was born In Fredonia, KS, about 1880. Around 1896, he started as a groom and learned the art of driving trotters with the Steward Brothers of Kansas City, MO. His first claim to fame was a pacer, Major Muscovite, at the turn of the century. He maintained a public stable until he went with Calumet Farm in Kentucky. With the Calumet horses he won many stakes, including the 1931 Hambletonian with Calumet Butler. He retired from racing after the 1931 season to manage Calumet Farm. McMahon was rated one of the best race drivers of his time. A very handsome man, he was loved and respected by many. He died in Kentucky in 1945.

WILLIAM "DOC" McMILLEN 1985 [1890-1984]

Born in Madison County, OH in 1890, he picked up his nickname early in life while working for a veterinarian. He drove his first race in 1920 at Jamestown, OH and continued to be active in the sport until his death at the age of 94 in 1984. During his long career he was associated with many noted horses and received many awards. He drove Well Worthy when that trotter became the first to crack the 2:05 mark on a half mile oval. In 1929 he trained and drove the world champion Peter Cowl, 2:02. Heading his many honors was an Award of Merit presented to him in 1975 by the Grand Circuit in recognition of his fifty years as a driver. Many horsemen credit their knowledge of the sport's fundamentals to the teachings of Doc McMillen.

LEO C. McNAMARA 1959 [1894-1959]

Leo McNamara was born in Indianapolis, IN in 1894. As a young man he went into business and eventually became president of the James McNamara Construction Company. Around 1935 he became active in the trotting sport and began to build up Two Gaits Farm in Carmel, IN. Probably the most famous horse to be bred at Two Gaits was Adios, who brought a price of $500,000 in 1955 when purchased by Hanover Shoe Farm from Delvin Miller. McNamara served as a director of the USTA from the time it was founded, was an officer of the Grand Circuit and The Trotting Horse Club and was a founder of The Hall of Fame of the Trotter in Goshen, NY. He died in Florida in 1959.