Could you name the brothers that have combined to score the most points (including playoff games) in NHL history?
It must be the Sutters, right? There were six of them. Maybe it was the Staal brothers - Eric, Jordan and Marc? The Stasnys? Peter, Anton and Marian? All were excellent players but none were good enough to score as many career points as the Gretzky brothers - Wayne and Brent. Yes, including playoffs the two Gretzky brothers amassed an incredible 3,243 points - Wayne had 3,239 and Brent had 4.
What’s that? You’ve never even heard of Brent Gretzky until now? Don’t feel bad - how do you think he feels?
There’s no doubt that it can be difficult joining a profession where a close family member excels.
Gary Nicklaus, son of Jack, tried it on the PGA Tour for a number of years, but only managed to play in 26 events, making just two cuts.
Did you know that Pete Rose Jr. actually made it to the MLB? His career consisted of 11 games played and a total of two base hits (his Dad had 4,256).
Diego Maradona, one of the best soccer players of all-time, has a son also named Diego, who unsuccessfully bounced from team-to-team in Italy’s lower level divisions, before settling on a career playing beach soccer.
There’s also no doubt that there have been many success stories of family members succeeding in the same sport where parents and siblings have starred. Brett Hull scored 741 NHL goals after his famous father Bobby ‘only’ scored 610, and Ken Griffey Jr. swatted 630 home runs years after Ken Sr. starred for Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine.
In harness racing these days we have a superstar trainer who is doing just the same thing as Brett Hull and Ken Griffey Jr. did - she’s stepping well out from her dad’s shadow and making people take notice - in a big way.
Nancy Takter, quite simply put, is kicking ass.
There’s no need to fill this page with statistics but in the last year-and-a-half, since her three-time Hall Of Fame father Jimmy retired, the lady with the golden smile has been on a tear. All one has to say is Captain Crunch, Tall Dark Stranger, Manchego, Kissin In The Sand, Dont Letem, The Ice Dutchess, Ready For Moni, Sorella, Panem, JK First Lady, and so on…
Of course there will be detractors - there always is. They’ll say that she got all those horses from her dad, and how that would make it so easy. Jealous people often like to try and rain on the parade of others. And I’m sure that Nancy is the first to admit that getting a horse like Manchego to train is a great help to a career, but make no mistake about it when I say that this lady is a star all on her own.
Jimmy Takter won EVERYTHING there is to win during his illustrious training career, right? Actually, he never did win a North America Cup or a Meadowlands Pace - two races that his daughter has won in the past 13 months, with horses (Captain Crunch and Tall Dark Stranger) that she picked out and developed completely separate from the ones that came by way of him.
Nancy Takter has obviously worked hard and learned a lot from her dad, and is carrying on his legacy in the way that Ken Griffey Jr. and Brett Hull did with their fathers.
Keep up the good work Nancy! And for anyone out there that thinks she’s just riding on her dad’s coat tails, maybe you shouldn’t have taken Brent Gretzky in your office hockey pool back in ‘93.
Dan Fisher
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