1980s Hambletonian

The Dead Heat

The 64th Hambletonian looked to be one of the most exciting, eagerly anticipated battles in many years - pitting two-year-old champion colt Valley Victory against two-year-old filly champ Peace Corps. The Hambo did indeed live up to its hype but neither Valley Victory nor Peace Corps played a part in it. Valley Victory, suffering from a virus, never entered the race, leaving Peace Corps the overwhelming favorite. The filly carried a 17-race winning streak into the Hambo, and the hopes were high among her trainer Tom Haughton, driver John Campbell, and owner Bjorn Pettersson of Sweden.

The anticipated showdown between 1988 2-year-old divisional champions Valley Victory and Peace Corps failed to materialize when Vally Victory was not entered because of illness. The Meadowlands had to hold onto thousands of "I like the colt" buttons. They still gave away the "I like the filly" buttons. Peace Corps (on a 17-race winning streak, though she had not raced in five weeks) finished a tired third in the first heat and second in the next heat, failing to qualify for the third heat race-off. The two horse race-off resulted in the only dead heat in Hambletonian history. Both horses paid $2.10 to win, producing the only minus pool in the Hambletonian. The last quarter of the race-off was :26 2/5, the fastest quarter ever in the Hambletonian. The mile was 2:02 2/5. Bill Fahy won in his first drive in the Hambletonian. Park Avenue Joe was the second Hambletonian winner for caretaker Randy Beeckman, who also groomed Mack Lobell (1987). Park Avenue Joe was the second of only three black trotters to win. Park Avenue Joe was foaled in Pin Oak Lane Farm in Pennsylvania, in the same barn in which 1992 Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee was born. More than two years after the race, the decision of an administrative law judge upheld the opinion of the Hambletonian Society that both horses be declared co-winners of the Hambletonian, although Park Avenue Joe garnered first money as best summary (2-1-1 dh versus 1-9-1 dh for Probe).

Swede Dreams

Despite their reputation and skill with trotters, Swedes had never won America’s premier trotting event. Not until Armbro Goal, trained by Jan Johnson and owned by Tomas Bertmark, both from Sweden, won the 63rd edition of the Hambletonian. Driver John Campbell captured his second consecutive Hambo, the first time a driver accomplished that feat since the late Bill Haughton won back-to-back in 1976 and 1977. Campbell employed the same strategy with Armbro Goal he used with Mack Lobell in 1987: get the lead early in both heats. He won the first heat in 1:543 by three lengths over maiden Rule The Wind, then posted a four and a quarter length victory in 1:551 over Firm Tribute to take the crown in straight heats. Bertmark purchased Armbro Goal just one week before the Hambletonian for $2.5 million from James Plate, Paul Ryan and Michael Caggiano of New York and New Jersey. The horse was to race under his former owners' names the rest of the year, with Bertmark splitting earnings and expenses. Armbro Goal earned $578,400 with his Hambletonian victory, Firm Tribute took home second money of $289,200 on the basis of his third place finish in the first heat and his second place spot in the second heat. Firm Tribute had to start from post number 13 (third from the rail in the second tier) in the first heat, and earned post positions three for the second heat. Since at least 15 trotters have to be entered before the race is split into divisions, the Hambletonian was contested in one division this year. That was the first time the race went in one division since Legend Hanover won in 1979.

Swedish owner/breeder Tomas Bertmark and partners bought Armbro Goal the week before the Hambletonian for $2.5 million, but the winner raced under the prior owners' name because he had already been entered in the event under that ownership. With just 12 trotters entered, the Hambletonian raced only one division for the first time since 1979. Armbro Goal won in straight heats, with a second heat victory of more than four lengths. Continental Farms (Jan Johnson & Berndt Lindstedt) became the only stable to win both the Hambletonian and the Hambletonian Oaks (Nan's Catch) in the same year. Armbro Goal was voted the 3-year-old Trotting Colt of the Year. Armbro Goal was the grandson of 1953 winner Helicopter; his dam Armbro Flight was second (beaten a neck) in the fourth heat raceoff in 1965. Armbro Flight was 23 when Armbro Goal, her13th foal, was born. She is the oldest mare ever to produce a Hambletonian winner. Armbro Flight was also the dam of 1976 heat winner Armbro Regina (third to Steve Lobell in 1976).

Mack Attack

Mack Lobell came into the 62nd Hambletonian with numerous records to his credit. He held a world record for two-year-old trotters of 1:553, track record of 1:54 at the Meadowlands in the Beacon Course Trot and was four-for- four on the year, including the Yonkers Trot, the first leg of the Trotting Triple Crown. Mack’s sire, Mystic Park, had been the favorite for the 1982 Hambletonian, but had broken stride in the first heat and didn’t qualify for the final. He was found to be suffering from a staph infection. After he was retired from racing just one start later, he was stricken with Potomac Fever. The stallion then foundered, a condition that is usually fatal. But Mystic Park battled back and survived to stand at stud. Heavily favored at the windows in the first heat, Mack didn't disappoint his backers, trotting to a five-and three-quarter lenght victory in 1:54. But Mack did have a problem. He brok stride after the finish and it was determined that his feet were stinging him. Trainer Chuck Sylvester called on Robert "Beans" McWhinney, who reshod the colt between heats, adding a leather pad for cushion. Mack came back with a bounce in his step to win the second heat in 1:53.3 by better than six lengths, setting a track and world record of 3:47.3 for two heats. Both heats developed in much the same manner. John Campbell moved Mack to the front before the quarter, turned back mid-race challengers and drew off handily in the stretch.

First Hambletonian timed better than 1:54 (1:53 3/5). John Campbell wins his first of six Hambletonians. Mack Lobell's six and a quarter length victory in the final set a new record for the largest winning margin in the final heat. The previous record was held by Peter Astra (1939) and Nevele Pride (1968). The only drama of the day occurred when Mack Lobell made a break in the turn after the finish line in the first heat. Trainer Chuck Sylvester, after consulting with Campbell, thought the track was stinging the horse's feet and had him reshod with full leather pads in between heats. Mack Lobell won the next and final heat, but seemed to measure the finish line and brok into a gallop as soon as he was safely across the finish line. Mack Lobell also won the Yonkers Trot, but his Triple Crown of Trotting was denied by Napoletano in one of the most memorable Kentucky Futurities ever. Mack Lobell was voted Trotter of the Year, an honor he earned again in 1988 as a 4-year-old. Mack Lobell was from the first crop of Mystic Park. As a 4-year-old at the time of the mating, Mystic Park became the youngest stallion ever to sire a Hambletonian winner. Mystic Park was the beaten favorite in the 1982 classic.

Imported Driver Pilots Champion

Trainer Per Henriksen was taking no chances with Nuclear Kosmos in the 61st Hambletonian. He wanted one of the best to handle his colt, so he sent all the way to Norway for four-time world champion Ulf Thoresen. Henriksen, who was Kosmos’ regular driver and also a native of Norway, had been friends with Thoresen for 25 years. Thoresen had never before driven in, or even seen, a Hambletonian. Enough three-year-olds were entered to warrant two divisions of the first heat. In the first division, Royal Prestige scored by two lengths over the filly Britelite Lobell and Nevele Typhoon. In the second, Thoresen sent Nuclear Kosmos for the lead from the nine hole, dropped back to third at the top of the stretch, then wore down the leaders to win by a length over Buck Newton in 1:554. Express Ride, the prerace favorite, tired badly in the stretch. In the second heat, Kosmos again was sent to the lead and had to turn back longshot Speedy Tomali early. Britelite Lobell took up the challenge at the top of the stretch and Royal Prestige, the 4-5 favorite, shook loose a sixteenth out. He was closing on Nuclear Kosmos at the finish, but Kosmos gamely held on. Britelite Lobell was third. The 40-year-old Thoresen, who had won major races all over Europe, called the Hambletonian victory the biggest thrill of his life.

First Hambletonian won by a European-based driver. Though trainer Per Henriksen usually drove Nuclear Kosmos, he asked fellow Norwegian, his long-time friend Ulf Thoreson to come drive for him. Thoreson, a four-time World Driving Champion, never had been in, or even seen a Hambletonian before. Thoreson's smart drive got him a Hambletonian victory, which he called the biggest thrill of his life. Royal Prestige was the favorite in the first heat elimination (with his stablemate Farm King), and the sole favorite in the final. Nuclear Kosmos had the second highest mutual odds of any horse winning the final of the Hambletonian (7-2 of $3.50 on the dollar); he was $5.50 on the dollar in winning his first Hambletonian heat (the entry of Express Ride and Everglade Hanover was the public's choice). Only The Intruder at about 9-2 or $4.45 dollar odds in the 1956 final was higher. Nuclear Kosmos had a fourth generation Hambletonian winner pedigree. He was the first horse to be sired by a Hambletonian winner (Speedy Somolli) that was the son and grandson of Hambletonian winners (Speedy Crown and Speedy Scot). Before being exported Speedy Somolli also produced Park Avenue Joe (1989 deadheat) and Alf Palema (1992), who wer both also expected. Bed by Gestion Belvedere (the estate of Jean Claude Caron et al) of Quebec, Nuclear Kosmos was the first winner credited to a Canadian breeder.

O’Donnell Gets His Hambletonian

Hambletonian records were at the mercy of Prakas and Bill O’Donnell in 1985. They won the 60th edition of the race in straight heats at the Meadow-lands, and stopped the clock in 1:543 in the second heat - snapping the record 1:55 for the fastest heat shared by Speedy Somolli and Florida Pro. The first division was captured by Torway and Howard Beissinger in 1:55.2. Torway, a 37-1 shot, had only one win and raced mostly in New York Sire Stakes prior to the Hambletonian. The record crowd of 37,652 backed Mark Six, who had captured the Canadian Trotting Derby at Greenwood earlier in the year. Prakas garnered the title of pre-race favorite by virtue of his six wins and three seconds in nine starts and his track records at Vernon Downs and the Meadowlands, both in 1:56.

When the gate left, Ben Webster and Flak Bait grabbed the lead with a :28.2 quarter. O'Donnell then pulled Prakas from the two hole and carried the field through clockings of :57.3 and 1:26.4. In the stretch, O'Donnell waved his whip at the colt and Prakas opened up to win by three and a half lengths in 1:55.1. In the final, Flak Bait was again the first to show, Piggvar dropped in second and Mark Six was parked to the quarter in :28.2. Prakas, after getting away fifth, challenged and took the lead past the half in :56.4 and the three-quarters in 1:25.2. They turned for home and Prakas' victory was sealed when Mark Six, the biggest threat, started to fade. A tired Prakas drifted out as he neared the wire, but had enough left in the tank to set the record of 1:54.3. The purse of $1,272,000 was the richest ever for the Hambletonian, and Prakas took home $636,000 for owners Hans Enggren, Iain MacKenzie and Carl Vizzi. Enggren was the breeder of not only Prakas, but also Torway, whom he sold as a yearling for $32,000. Prakas was trained by Per Eriksson, who arrived from Sweden with the father-son team of Soren and Jan Nordin, but had recently struck out on his own.

Co-owner Hans Enggren bred not only Prakas, but also Torway, the winner of the first elimination heat in 1:55 2/5, a track record for 3-year-olds. Prakas reclaimed the 3-year-old standard when he won his elim in 1:55 1/5, then set a new Hambletonian stake record of 1:54 3/5. 23-year-old Per Eriksson became the youngest trainer to win the Hambletonian. Prakas was voted the Trotter of the Year. The Hambletonian was simulcast for the first time. It was the first Hambletonian win for the Meadowland's perennial leading driver, Bill O'Donnell; Prakas was the fifth horse he'd driven in the classic. O'Donnell closed out 1985 with more than $10 million in earnings, the first driver to mark that milestone. Two of his regular drives, Prakas and Nihilator, set single season's earnings marks that year.

On the Fast Track

Historic Freight, racing in a claiming event with a price tag of $52,500 only weeks before, captured the 59th Hambletonian which featured a record purse of $1,219,000. A record number of 26 entries were scheduled to go postward (two divisions of 13 each) but three scratches in the first division reduced that event to ten. In the first elimination, Gentle Stroke, handled by George Sholty, used his second tier post 11 to perfection and won the heat in 1:574. Overlooked in the wagering, Gentle Stroke paid $21.40 to win. The 70 to 1 chance, Father Soren, finished second. In that event, Wholly Arnie took the lead immediately and had a four-lenght lead at the eight pole, but reminiscent of the 1933 Hambletonian when Brown Berry stumbled while leading, he, likewise, went to his knees and wound up fifth, placed seventh. In the second division, the 60 to 1 shot Delvin G. Hanover, driven by Hakan Wallner, upset his field by defeating pacesetting Historic Freight in 1:56.2. Delvin G. Hanover's win price of $126.20 remains the largetst in the race's history. Delvin G. Hanover had the ten post and was twelfth at the quarter, eleventh at the half, and still tenth with a quarter of a mile remaining. In the second heat, driver Webster rated Historic Freight on the lead and sealed the heat with a :28.2 final quarter, winning in 1:57.3 over the fast closing Delvin G. Hanover. The three winners, Delvin G. Hanover, Gentle Stroke, and Historic Freight, came back for the deciding heat and, once again, Webster gave his trotter a picture perfect drive. From the two post, Historic Freight immediately took command and led the field, the opening quarter in :29.2. With no challengers materializing, Webster grabbed hold of his charge, gave him a breather with a second panel in :31.1, and a thrid quarter in :30.3. It was all over with a final quarter of :28.2, closing the door on Delvin G. Hanover and Gentle Strok. Delvin G. Hanover was disqualified and placed third in the final for a lapped-on break at the wire.