by Bob Heyden

Hanover Shoe Farms is about to have their 25,000th career winner. They had 24,842 through April 24. Hanover Shoe is also going to hit three-quarters of a BILLION dollars sometime in the next 12 months. They were closing in on $731 million as of the last week of April.

Winbak Farms is next at over $300 million, while Armstrong Bros is third at $199,235,450.

Castleton Farms is one of four outfits that had at least 10,000 starters (10,483) and they are in fifth, right ahead of Perretti Farms.

In total, eight different breeding operations hit $100 Million.

Back to back

Wiggle It Jiggleit holds pacing record for earnings over two years at $3,901,057 in 2015-16. He put up a Horse of the Year season at 3 with earnings of nearly $2.2 million in 2015, followed by more than $1.7 million at four.

Supplements helped

Both the top two single-season earners of all time among pacers were aided some by a supplemental entry that didn’t pan out. It did pump up the yearly total for the top two single-season earners. In 2008, Somebeachsomewhere’s earnings record of $2,448,003 was helped by Bullville Powerful’s $100,000 supplement to the Meadowlands Pace (in which SBSW finished second to Art Official).

In 2000, Gallo Blue Chip was aided by P B Bullville’s $150,000 supplement to the Pace that was a bust. Gallo earned $2,428,816 that year, but he received $75,000 extra in the Pace from that supplement.

Backing it up

Gallo Blue Chip, Market Share and Wiggle It Jiggleit are the only three North American-breds to have a $2 million season, then come back the next year and add $1 million. Gallo did it in 2000-2001, and Market Share in 2012-2013, while Wiggle did it in 2015-2016.

2yo pacers – all-time earnings leaders

The top four freshman pacing seasons of all time took place in the 1980s.

1986 — Redskin $1,407,263 (despite no money in the Woodrow Wilson)
1984 — Nihilator $1,361,367
1982 — Fortune Teller $1,313,175
1984 — Praised Dignity $1,194,715

In the last 14 years, not a single 2-year-old has made this list among the top 16 of all time.

Double Nickells

Hall Of Famer Bruce Nickells has the distinction of being the only trainer to have had a $1 million single-season 2-year-old pacing filly — and he did it twice:
Miss Easy $1,128,956 and Immortality $1,033,028

Broad brush

Broad Bahn is the only one on the list of top 25 single-season earning trotters to have more seconds than wins. The Hambletonian winner posted a record of 5-8-2 in 19 starts.

In the pink

Pinkman’s $1,892,865 season of 2015 represents the single biggest season for any Jimmy Takter trainee — ever!

Sears towers

Brian Sears had both the undefeated trotters on the list of top single-season earnings — Bee A Magician in 2013 (17-for-17) and Muscle Hill in 2009 (12-for-12). Muscle Hill set the bar very high when he averaged $204,670 a start in 2009 — easily the highest total for any standardbred in any season.

Freshman trotters

On the list of freshman trotters ranked by single-season earnings, only two topped $1 million — Snow White ($1,252,646) and Poof She’s Gone ($1,036,956). The top three earning freshman trotters in a single season are female. Costa Rica holds down third with earnings of $970,126.

Three undefeated freshman trotters appear in the top 25 ranked by single-season earnings:

Deweycheatumnhowe, who was 10-for-10 with earnings of $936,191 in 2007, Manchego, who was 12-for-12 with earnings of $873,948 in 2017 and Wheeling N Dealin, who was nine-for-nine with earnings of $696,112 in 2012.

Only Ray Schnittker has a colt and a filly in the top 25 of all time on this list — Deweycheatumnhowe and Check Me Out — whose combined record is an astounding 26 24-2-0, $1,836,810.