Harness: Saying goodbye to many stars of racing

Over the past few weeks, we have seen several of harness racing’s finest equine stars call it a career. As we do with everything else in a sport where we keep statistical data, our first reaction to a horse retiring is to measure them against history. How did they rank in terms of their generation? Where do they fit against the all-time greats?

First, the obvious, Hannelore Hanover. It is without question that Hannelore Hanover is among the greatest trotting mares of all-time. An argument can be made that she was the best trotter in North America in 2016 and 2017.

In 2016, the amazon that is ‘Hannelore’ won 17 of 20 starts, earning over $1.1 Million, with her only off-the-board finish occurring in the International Trot when she made an uncharacteristic break on the first turn. Among her victories was a world-record 1:51 triumph in the Armbro Flight. In addition, she defeated males on multiple occasions, including a powerhouse performance in the Hambletonian Maturity. She also defeated JL Cruze in an Open event at The Meadowlands in a track record 1:51 1/5. That isn’t a race that many speak about, but she made a break, was shuffled back to last and still beat the boys in a track-record performance. From there, the daughter of Swan For All won an elimination of the Maple Leaf Trot against males as well as the Centaur Trotting Classic. Her season concluded with victories over Bee A Magician in the Breeders Crown and TVG Mare Trot. The mare came up just one vote short of being Trotter of the Year in 2016 and it took a Triple Crown winner (Marion Marauder) to prevent her from achieving the award.

There would be nothing to stand in the way of ‘Hannelore’ in 2017 as she would put together another million-dollar season, winning 10 of 17 starts including a 1:49 2/5 world-record performance at The Red Mile. She also posted wins against males in the Maple Leaf Trot, where she decimated the field, and the Breeders Crown Open Trot. Hannelore Hanover was not just Trotter of the Year, but Horse of the Year as well. After her final career start in the TVG Mare Trot at The Meadowlands, her racing partner for most of her memorable moments, Yannick Gingras, had this to say:

“She’s a tremendous horse, one of the best I’ve ever driven. What I really liked about her was that every time you went on the track, you knew what you were going to get…every night I got behind her, I knew she was going to give 110 percent.”

We can debate where Hannelore Hanover belongs amongst the all-time greats. When you think of the greatest trotting mares of all time, certainly any conversation begins with Moni Maker and Peace Corps. However, if you are carving a Mount Rushmore of the greatest trotting mares, you better leave a place for Hannelore Hanover.

Similar to Hannelore Hanover, another trotting mare took her last steps on a racetrack just this past Monday night (12/2) – Emoticon Hanover. Unfortunately for Emoticon Hanover, she competed at a time where there we so many magnificent trotting mares in training. The aforementioned Hannelore Hanover, Bee A Magician, Mission Brief, Shake It Cerry and Atlanta all raced the same years as Emoticon Hanover and she is overshadowed because of that. But make no mistake, on her best day ‘Emoticon’ was a force and it was well-deserved for her to go out with two consecutive victories, first in the TVG Mare Trot against Atlanta and Hannelore Hanover, and this past Monday in Canada. She deserves the recognition.

Six Pack is heading to the stallion barn at Deo Volente Farms. He will be remembered for brilliant speed and as a horse that when at his best could beat anyone. He will be a welcomed addition to the stallion roster in New Jersey.

Another champion that took his last lap around the track recently was McWicked. McWicked may be one of the most bizarre Standardbreds of all-time. What I mean by that is he is so tremendously accomplished, but you hardly ever hear his name mentioned when talking about the greatest pacers of all time. Foiled Again’s name is etched in stone as the richest standardbred in history, but he didn’t reach millionaire status until his 5-year-old campaign. McWicked’s $4.9 Million in lifetime earnings by the end of his 8-year-old season surpassed where Foiled Again was at that point ($4.6 Million).

McWicked won The Max Hempt Memorial, the Adios and the Breeders Crown as a sophomore en route to divisional honors and four years later was the top older pacer in the country, earning $1.5 Million and winning the Breeders Crown before being named Horse of the Year. Even more impressive, McWicked’s $4.9 Million in lifetime earnings are despite a winless two-year stretch at ages 4 and 5, often the most lucrative years for any Standardbred, as he battled serious breathing issues. Over those two years, McWicked earned just $108,000. That’s incredible! Had McWicked stayed on the track for six more years, it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility that he could have earned $2.7 Million over that span. After all, he has earned $2.5 Million in the last two and was competing at the highest level at age 8. Was he Niatross? No. But McWicked deserves to be remembered as one of the best pacers in harness racing history. I certainly will remember him that way.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the passing of Joseph Pavlica Jr. Joe was 35 years old and if you spent any time at The Meadowlands in the last 10 to 15 years, chances are you at least exchanged pleasantries with Joe. Joe coached basketball at a local school in New Jersey. He was an avid Yankee fan, which rivaled the passion he had for harness racing. He was an excellent handicapper and it was always a pleasure to speak with him about racing. We came to know each other first as young patrons at The Meadowlands, and when I began my various roles at the track, I always made it a point to stop and talk with Joe a bit each weekend. You could always find him in the same spot, in the original facility he would be at the table tops just outside the clubhouse teletheater, in the new facility, those same table tops outside the executive offices. I will miss seeing him there, I will miss our banter about racing and the Yankees. Harness racing has lost one of its youngest and most passionate fans. Rest in peace, Joe.