A few seconds can change your life - in this case, 113.2 seconds, to be precise. When the Doug McIntosh-trained and Trevor Ritchie-driven Yankee Paco won the 2000 Hambletonian, and became the first Canadian-sired horse to win racing’s most prestigious event for sophomore trotters, the careers of the colt’s trainer and driver would never be the same.
On the 25th anniversary of becoming the first Canadian-sired winner of The Hambletonian, Yankee Paco can now also be called a Canadian Horse Racing Hall Of Famer. The two people that can tell the story of that famous Hambo better than anyone, are trainer Doug McIntosh and driver Trevor Ritchie. They were more than willing to discuss the 2025 Hall of Famer with TROT Magazine and relive the story of the chestnut son of Balanced Image who changed their lives forever, a quarter of a century ago.
To read the feature on Yankee Paco from the June issue of TROT, click the following link: Yankee Paco: Canadians’ Career Changing Hambo.
(Standardbred Canada)