This Friday (July 15) will mark the 25th anniversary of the passing of a giant of the industry, Billy Haughton, who lost his life in 1986

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Meadowlands Racetrack Statistician Bob 'Hollywood' Heyden has been crunching numbers once again, and here's just a sampling of the impact Haughton had on the industry --- with the emphasis on the 'firsts' that the icon had in so many big races.

• Billy is the only horseman to both train and drive a winner in a race valued over $1.5 million. He drove McKinzie Almahurst in the 1981 Woodrow Wilson, which had a purse of $1.76 million (the fourth richest harness race of all time). He trained the winner of the richest harness race ever contested, the 1984 edition of the Woodrow Wilson, which carried a whopping $2,161,000 purse and was won by Nihilator (it should be noted that the race marked the first time Haughton did not drive Nihilator; who was eight-for-eight with Haughton at the lines heading into harness racing's richest race; then the switch to Bill O'Donnell).

• Haughton won the 1978 Meadowlands Pace with Falcon Almahurst, which at the time was the richest harness race ever contested ($560,000).

• Billy won the richest Hambletonian --- are you ready --- five times. That's right, five different times he won the Hambletonian in the single biggest purse ever offered in the sports signature race:

• 1974 - $160,150 - Christopher T
• 1976 - $263,524 - Steve Lobell
• 1977 - $284,151 - Green Speed
• 1980 - $293,570 - Burgomeister
• 1982 - $875,000 - Speed Bowl
• (Note: Of these five winners he trained, Speed Bowl is the only one Haughton didn't drive)

• Billy trained the winner of the first $100,000 Hambo Oaks (Pagan Princess, $100,000, 1979).

• Billy's late son, Peter --- The race named for him (Peter Haughton Memorial) was and is the only race in history for two-year-old trotters which has gone for $1 million (1984, $1,000,000, Another Miracle; 1985, $1,000,000, Express Ride).

• Billy trained the very first Sweetheart winner (Cool Heel, 1979).

• Haughton won the very first Merrie Annabelle (Rosemary, 1977).

• Billy won the very first Canadian Trotting Classic --- and he beat the boys, too --- (Keystone Pioneer, 1976).

• Haughton won the richest-ever Yonkers Trot, twice (1976, $202,006, Steve Lobell; 1977, Green Speed, $239,000).

• Billy/Tommy Haughton hold the record for the richest race ever where father-son finish 1-2 while driving in a trotting race (1980, Hambletonian, $293,570, Burgomeister over Final Score).

• On three occasions, Billy trained the Kentucky Futurity winner at the co-highest purse ever offered in the race ($100,000 --- 1976, 1978, 1980).

• Haughton won the first-ever Cane Pace (1955, $71,040, Quick Chief).

• Billy won the first-ever Adios (1967, Romulus Hanover).

• Haughton won with his filly Naughty But Nice in the very first year of the Breeders Crown (1984).

• Billy triumphed in a division of the Tarport Hap in its first year (1977, Future Fame).

• Haughton won the very first Meadowlands Pace elimination with Crash in 1977.

• Billy's win with Falcon Almahurst in 1978 was the last year that the Meadowlands Pace was contested in heats on the same night

• Haughton won the richest-ever Messenger Stakes three times:

• 1956 (first year), Belle Acton, $71,500
• 1967, Romulus Hanover, $178,064
• 1968, Rum Customer, $189,018

• Remember that Billy Haughton was 56 years old when harness racing's first-ever $1 million race was contested. Niatross owned the night. Guess who was second? Haughton with Storm Damage, driving for Jerry Smith.

• Billy won the 1968 Triple Crown with Rum Customer. That was the only year that harness racing had both a Trotting and Pacing Triple Crown winner (Nevele Pride).

• The last pacer to retire as both the fastest and the richest ever was a Haughton trainee (Nihilator, 1:49.3, $3.2 million). That 1:49.3 was the first-ever sub-1:50 race mile in the sport's history; and that came in Billy's final full year as a trainer (1985).

• Billy was the leading money-winning driver in North America 12 times. The only driver in history who has surpassed that, to this day, is John Campbell (he did it 16 times).

• One final note. Very late in June of 1986, I bumped into Billy Haughton in the drivers' room. I finally got up the nerve to ask him if he would do the following week's 'Talk to the Stars' program. He said 'yes.' That was the week before his accident at Yonkers.

(Bob 'Hollywood' Heyden)