Remembering Western Hanover

On this day 30 years ago, Western Hanover, one of the best horses and most prolific and dominant stallions in the history of harness racing, was born.

Western Hanover was foaled on March 28, 1989. He was a No Nukes colt out of the Albatross mare Wendymae Hanover. Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, Western Hanover was a $105,000 yearling purchase by Brittany Farms' George Segal. Placed in the care of trainer Gene Riegle, Western Hanover’s outstanding racing career earned him Two- and Three-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year honours in the U.S., and he retired as the sixth leading money-winning pacer of all time.

In his freshman year Western Hanover won 8 of 14 starts, earning $697,332. Major victories included the Governor’s Cup, Lou Babic Memorial, Prix de l’Avenir, Champlain Pace and New Jersey Futurity. He was voted Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of 1991.

As a three-year-old, Western Hanover won 19 of 28 starts with earnings of $1,844,315. Although he lost his Triple Crown bid by a nose, his wins included the Messenger, Cane Pace, one heat of the Little Brown Jug, New Jersey Classic, Windy City, James Dancer Memorial, Cleveland Classic, Art Rooney Memorial Elimination, Meadowlands Pace Elimination, Terrapin Stake and two New Jersey Sire Stakes. He was voted Three-Year-Old Pacing Colt of 1992 and retired with total earnings of $2,541,647. His final career start came on Canadian soil, winning the 1992 Provincial Cup at Windsor Raceway in straight heats for regular driver Bill Fahy.

During the years 1999-2002 and 2005-2007 Western Hanover ranked as second-leading money-winning sire in North America. In 2004 and 2008-2010 he ranked first. In December of 2009, Western Hanover became the all-time leading money-producing sire of all equine breeds.

Western Hanover has sired the winners of over $217 million including 26 millionaires, and his offspring include 561 $100,000 winners, with 817 in 1:55 and 71 in 1:50. He is the sire of three-time American-National winner Won The West p,5,1:47 ($3,487,024), Well Said p,3,1:47.3 ($2,569,342), winner of the 2009 Little Brown Jug, Meadowlands Pace and North America Cup, and world champion If I Can Dream p,3,1:49.4f ($1,990,276), 2009 Breeders Crown and Messenger Stakes winner. Western Hanover is also the sire of 1997 Triple Crown winner Western Dreamer p,4,1:49 ($1,812,176) and sires the likes of The Panderosa p,3,1:49.3 ($1,452,418), Western Ideal p,5,1:48 ($1,455,422) and Badlands Hanover p,2,1:50z ($754,772) .

As a broodmare sire Western Hanover has sired the dams of winners of over $232 million, with 678 over $100,000 and 1,202 in 1:55 (17 in 1:50). He is the grandsire of multiple millionaires including Shark Gesture p,6,1:48.1s ($2,818,021), Pure Country p,4,Q1:48 ($2,628,213) and Betting Line p,3,1:47.2f ($1,879,061).

Western Hanover was inducted into the Living Horse Hall of Fame in 2002. He stood at Hanover Shoe Farms where he died on August 26, 2007 at the age of 18.

(with files from the U.S. Harness Horse Hall of Fame)