In July 2024, the U.S. Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame announced that the trustees of the Museum had unanimously endorsed the election of Lester Hollenback, Bob Key, Harmon Showers, American Winner, Grades Singing, Magician, Romalie Hanover and Town Pro as harness racing Immortals. On Sunday, July 6, 2025, these individuals will be inducted into the Hall of Immortals during ceremonies held under the tent on the Museum lawn.
Lester Hollenback (1922-2020) had a great influence over the careers of many star horses as a master horseshoer. Some of these included Dudley Hanover, winner of the 1950 Little Brown Jug; 1951 Harness Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame Immortal Pronto Don; 1970 Hambletonian winner Timothy T; Waymaker, winner of the 1974 Kentucky Futurity; 1979 Kentucky Futurity winner and Hall of Fame Immortal Classical Way; and 1986 Kentucky Futurity and 1988 March of Dimes Trot winner Sugarcane Hanover. In 1965, Hollenback established the Midwest Farrier School in Macomb, Illinois, then moved on to shoe horses at the Ben White Raceway in Orlando. There, he shod for some of the best Standardbred trainers in the world. In 2002, Hollenback was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame in Lexington, Kentucky.
Robert “Bob” Key (1933-2021) was introduced to harness racing through his work as an attorney. Soon after getting into the sport, he was among the owners of two-year-old filly pacer Amneris, who won a Breeders Crown in 1984, the inaugural year of the event. Four years later, Key expanded his involvement to breeding, and in 1993, American Winner, a Key-bred horse and the product of his Hall of Fame broodmare BJs Pleasure, won the Hambletonian. American Winner later achieved recognition as a sire, particularly of broodmares. American Winner’s daughter Yankee Blondie produced Hall of Fame trotter Muscle Hill and other daughters produced Dan Patch Award winners Sand Vic and Maven, O’Brien Award winners Define The World and Classic Photo, and millionaires including Key-campaigned Breeders Crown champion Break The Bank K and Grand Circuit star Win Missy B. Key’s stable ranked in the top 20 in earnings every year from 2010 through 2019. It exceeded $3 million in purses three times during that span and topped $2 million in each of the remaining seven years.
Only a few men are recorded as having a direct significant impact on the origins and career of the Standardbred foundation sire Hambletonian 10. These men include breeder Jonas Seely, owner William Rysdyk and caretaker Harmon Showers (c1828-1898). Showers, a man of mixed Iroquois and African lineage, was born in Orange County, New York. Like his father, Showers began his work life as a farm laborer. But in a region in which trotting horses were an almost universal passion, this meant also learning the ways of horses. When Hambletonian was foaled in 1849, Showers was living near the Jonas Seely farm and may have even worked alongside William M. Rysdyk there. Showers became a skilled horseman and remained Hambletonian 10’s dedicated caretaker under the employ of Rysdyk and later his widow Elvira for 20 years (1856-1876), maintaining the stallion’s conditioning, driving and riding him under saddle and handling him in the stud. Showers developed a rapport so perfect and trusting with the stallion that Rysdyk relied on it to keep the stallion under control when presented to the 1,609 mares booked to Hambletonian during this period.
American Winner (1990-2018) was a stellar performer on the racetrack who then went on to make a huge mark on the trotting breed through his daughter Yankee Blondie, who produced Hall of Famer Muscle Hill, and also through his sons, Viking Kronos and Hall of Famer Credit Winner and their offspring. As a three-year-old in 1993, American Winner won the first leg of trotting’s Triple Crown, the Yonkers Trot (in world record time), and took an eight-race winning streak to the Meadowlands for the Beacon Course and Hambletonian. He finished second to Pine Chip in the Beacon and then turned in an easy win over Pine Chip in the Hambletonian, giving him victories in two of the three legs of the Triple Crown. He finished his racing career with 16 wins in 27 starts and $1,302,451 in earnings. American Winner’s sire (Super Bowl) and dam (BJs Pleasure) are both members of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, as is his son, Credit Winner.
Grades Singing (1982-2007), a three-time Breeders Crown champion, had a remarkable seven-year career with 148 starts across nine countries, securing 87 wins and earning more than $2.5 million. She made a splash as a two-year-old, sweeping the Quebec stakes races and was named Canadian Two-Year-Old Filly Trotter of the Year. Her winning streak continued with significant victories in Sire Stakes races, garnering her the title of Canada’s Three-Year-Old Trotter of the Year. In her four-year-old season, Grades Singing triumphed in prestigious events like the Maple Leaf Trot and was named USTA Aged Trotting Mare of the Year. Her success extended to Europe, where she clinched titles on the Grand Circuit while adding two more Breeders Crown championships to her name. Retiring in 1990, Grades Singing was honoured with a place in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Foaled in Lexington, Ky., Magician (1995-2008), had a lifetime race record of 111-49-14-14 with earnings in excess of $3.6 million. In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Magician made a name for himself in New York Sire Stakes competition, winning the final in both 1997 and 1998. In 2000, five-year-old Magician’s wins included the Breeders Crown (defeating Moni Maker), Maple Leaf Trot, Arthur Cutler Memorial and American-National. With earnings of $1,200,190 he was unanimously voted 2000 Dan Patch Aged Trotter of the Year. In 2001, after overcoming an injury, Magician returned to racing with victories in the Classic Series, Cutler Memorial, American-National and Su Mac Lad. He finished second to Varenne in the $500,000 Trot Mondial in Quebec. With earnings of $979,375, Magician was voted 2001 O’Brien Older Trotting Horse of the Year. He ended his career at the age of eight in 2003.
Bred and raised by Hanover Shoe Farms, Romalie Hanover (1969-c1996) sold for $101,000 at the 1970 Standardbred Horse Sale, then the highest price ever paid for any yearling pacing filly. She won 29 races and $394,385 at two and three and was honoured as both the Dan Patch Two-Year-Old and Three-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year, with multiple world record-setting performances on all size tracks. Heralded as one of the greatest pacing fillies ever when she retired, her numerous stakes wins included the Jugette, Lady Maud, Adioo Volo, Battle of Saratoga, Hanover-Hempt, Flora Temple Stake, Hoosier Futurity, Walnut Hall Stakes, Almahurst Farm Stakes and multiple Pennsylvania Sire Stakes events.
Town Pro (1987-2014), distinguished herself as both racehorse and broodmare. In 1989, she was crowned Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year based on a season which produced 12 wins in 13 starts and culminated with a Breeders Crown triumph. At age three, Town Pro won 14 of 17 starts, lowered her record to 1:51.4 and captured another Breeders Crown. She was voted Three-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year, becoming one of the very few pacing fillies to win back-to-back divisional honours in Canada and the U.S. at ages two and three. As a broodmare, Town Pro was a prolific producer, with 13 starters collectively earning $4.2 million. Her most accomplished offspring is daughter Darlins Delight, a winner of more than $3 million. In 2004, Town Pro was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame is located at 240 Main Street in Goshen, N.Y. and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 4-12. Current Museum and USTA members are free. If you would like further information on the Immortals nomination process, the 2025 induction ceremony, the Museum, its membership program, special events and educational programs, call 845-294-6330 or visit harnessmuseum.com.
(U.S. Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame)