“Monster” Races in Harness Racing History

There are some horses that when they hit the track are true monsters and “destroy the world” records and others that turn in truly heroic performance, “flying” down the track to win the day. In honor of Halloween, the USTA’s Allison Conte counts down some of the “spookily good” harness race finishes of the past.

1. 1980 Pompano Park

In Niatross’ last race he didn’t go out with a whimper, turning in a dominant performance as usual supported by a crowd of people that were very emotional to see him go and will always remember him.

2. 1999 Prix D’Amerique

Moni Maker is a legend and one of the few US horses to have incredible success in Europe. Prix D’Amerique is one of their most prestigious races, and if you listen around 3:10 in the video, you can hear the crowd going wild for her.

3. 2000 Meadowlands Pace

Gallo was the Foiled Again of his day. The 3-wide move around 1:30 is what made this race truly special.

4. 2007 World Record at The Red Mile

Snow White was the Mission Brief of 2007 and at the time, 1:52.4 was an insane finish as she won at The Red Mile in Lexington with over a 10-length lead.

5. 2009 Hambletonian Final

Muscle Hill is still considered one of, if not the, best trotter ever. People still talk about what he could have done as an older horse, mainly because of this performance. 1:50.1 equaled the all-age record at that time.

6. 2009 Breeder’s Crown Mare Trot

Buck I St Pat is a name that gets mentioned with Moni Maker as one of the all-time great trotting mares. She swoops them going 4 wide at 1:32, kind of a signature move of hers.

7. 2011 Breeders Crown 2YO Pace

Sweet Lou’s 2 year old Breeders Crown performance was dominant, and the move he makes about at 1:00 shows how crazy his speed is. That record still stands as the fastest ever by a 2 YO pacer.