The 2011 edition of the Yonkers Trot, the first leg of the Trotting Triple Crown, will be contested over Yonkers Raceway on Saturday, July 9. In anticipation of this year's event, harness racing statistician extraordinaire Bob 'Hollywood' Heyden has compiled some obscure facts
about the Yonkers Trot and the Triple Crown:
• Jimmy Takter is looking for an unprecedented third straight Yonkers Trot title.
- Takter has won the last two editions of the Yonkers Trot. That puts him in good company. Trond Smedshammer won the Yonkers Trot back to back (2004-2005) as did Soren Nordin (1984-1985) and the legendary Billy Haughton, who captured the events in 1976-1977.
- In 2010, Takter became the third trainer to win the Yonkers Trot and the Hambletonian --- the same year, mind you --- with two different colts. He scored with On The Tab at Yonkers and with Muscle Massive in the second fastest Hambletonian ever contested (1:51). Previously, Berndt Lindstedt and Jan Johnson did it in 1988 with Southern Newton on the four turns and Armbro Goal on the two turns in the Hambo. Stanley Dancer did it once as a driver and once training: in the bike with both Surefire Hanover in 1975 in the Yonkers Trot and Bonefish winning a four-heat Hambo; and on the conditioning and driving end with Noble Victory in the 1965 Yonkers Trot, but training only with Egyptian Candor in the Hambletonian that same year (Del Cameron got the catch-driving assignment).
• Cat Manzi has a most unique Triple Crown record. He owns four Triple Crown wins, all of which have come at Yonkers Raceway: the Cane Pace (1996, Scoot To Power), and the Yonkers Trot three times (1994, Bullville Victory; 2003, Sugar Trader; 2007, Green Dot).
• The immortal Stanley Dancer is the only driver to win the Yonkers Trot over three different decades: the fifties (1959); the sixties (1965, 1968) and the seventies (1971, 1972 and 1975).
• The Yonkers Trot was actually raced at three different tracks three straight years during the construction of Yonkers' video gaming parlor. In 2004 it was hosted at Hawthorne; in 2005, with concessions from the Yonkers' horsemen, Freehold was the host; the race came home in 2006 to its namesake, Yonkers.
• This year the Yonkers Trot has only seven entered to the prestigious event. The last year that harness racing had a Triple Crown winner was in 2006, when Glidemaster won the event with John Campbell's replacement, George Brennan, taking the helm for the absent master teamster. The Yonkers Trot is the toughest of the three legs of the events, as it is contested on the half-mile track. Many horsemen seem to shy away from the challenge, but those few that have faced the challenge, like Smedshammer, Linstedt, Haughton, Dancer, and Nordin, have earned the respect due them for taking the chance
• Quiz: Which two consecutive Yonkers Trot runner-ups went on to later (in another year) be named a Horse of the Year?
- 1971-Savoir (1975 HOY)
- 1972-Delmonice Hanover (1974 HOY)
(Bob 'Hollywood' Heyden)