From Malabar Man in 1997 through Pinkman in 2015, the three-time Hall of Famer reflects on triumphs in “the toughest race to win.”

by Debbie Little

“The Hambletonian is the toughest race to win,” said Hall of Famer Jimmy Takter.

The talented trainer knows of what he speaks, having won “America’s Trotting Classic” four times, as a favorite, second choice, fourth choice, and even from the driver’s seat.

After watching his first Hambletonian in 1978 when he was 17, it took less than 20 years for Takter to win his first at the age of 36.

“Well, you know, the first one was Mal Burroughs’ horse, Malabar Man,” Takter said of the 1997 race. “It was a great story. Mal Burroughs is the first amateur in modern times to win the Hambletonian, and it was my first Hambletonian. It’s always very special, the first one. You know, it was great.

“And he was just the best horse. He was the best 2-year-old, best 3-year-old. He was just the perfect horse, really.”

Even with Burroughs driving, Takter was confident they would get the job done.

“I did, you know, I really did,” Takter said. “I drove him just once myself and I won with him in Kentucky. He was a really, really, really perfect horse. [Burroughs] almost screwed up because he stayed in, he sat up behind Trond [Smedshammer, driving Bowlin For Dollars], and, fortunately, Trond drifted out in the stretch and he came up inside him. You know, I was second in the race, as well.”

Takter’s Take Chances, driven by Wally Hennessey, closed to finish a length behind the winner.

“Take Chances was second in that race, so I had a backup horse behind [Malabar Man],” Takter said with a laugh. “But the right horse won the race. He was a way better horse than Take Chances was, even though Take Chances won the Futurity, which Malabar Man was never staked to.”

Takter said Burroughs was actually a very good driver.

“He had good hands,” Takter said. “He won the [Hambletonian] Oaks with Gleam [in 1994]. Everybody’s so hung up on the drivers here and there, and, of course, there are very good drivers out there, but by the same token, if they don’t have the horse, it doesn’t matter.”

Takter went on to say that people should show more love to the Hambletonian Oaks.

“We have to consider the Oaks like the Hambletonian as well because we can’t discriminate against the ladies,” Takter said. “[Driver] Yannick [Gingras] winning the Oaks five times in a row [2014-18 driving Takter’s horses], I think that’s never going to be broken.

“My six Breeders Crowns [wins as a trainer in a single year], who knows, that can be broken by somebody, but not five years in a row, same trainer and driver in the Hambletonian Oaks, that’s unheard of.”

It took 13 years for Takter to land in the Hambletonian winner’s circle for the second time, this time with Muscle Massive in 2010.

“That was a big gap for me, but, you know, it was early in my career and I started to get better horses in the 2000s,” Takter said.

Sold at the Standardbred Horse Sale for $425,000, Muscle Massive was the highest priced yearling of 2008. It was the fifth highest price ever for a yearling colt trotter.

“He was the most beautiful colt,” Takter said. “He was, to me, probably the least good of my Hambletonian winners ability-wise. [Driver] Ron Pierce and me, we did a hell of a job with that horse. He got hurt as a 2-year-old [with a suspensory issue].

“So, he lost the whole 2-year-old season and coming back from scratch, unraced, to win the Hambletonian, of course it was a great accomplishment, but I give Ron Pierce a lot of credit for that one.”

Four years later, 2014, was a good year for Takter.

“I was very fortunate that year because I had the three best colts,” Takter said. “Father Patrick was by far the best out of the three, and you can say Trixton and Nuncio were kind of tied ability-wise.”

Father Patrick, driven by Gingras, was the overwhelming Hambletonian favorite at 2-5, while the Takter-driven Trixton was the 4-1 second choice, followed closely by 9-2 third-choice Nuncio, driven by John Campbell.

“Trixton always had big issues with his hind ankles and he wasn’t a sound horse and then when I drove the race, I almost lost him on the backside; he took a couple steps there,” Takter said. “He wasn’t comfortable and I just raced him, I think, once or twice after that and we retired him because his ankle was not [perfect]; I didn’t want to disgrace the horse, because I love that horse. He was a really, really nice horse.

“But Father Patrick was outstanding. He should have won the race. He would have won the race if he didn’t run at the gate.”

Takter did not find out what happened to Father Patrick until after the race.

“I assumed that something must have happened because he wasn’t around, but you have to focus on your own horse, you cannot concentrate on what’s going on behind that, but, you know, that’s horse racing,” Takter said.

Training three horses in the Hambletonian could split your attention according to Takter, but if you’re driving one, then you have to stay focused.

“I remember my wife said, ‘Remember, you’re driving our horse,’” Takter said with a laugh. “You know, I liked all three of those horses. In hindsight, it didn’t matter for Father Patrick as much because he ended up being 3-Year-Old Colt [Trotter] of the Year and had a stallion career, and Trixton needed to win the Hambletonian to become commercial, and Nuncio, he won the Futurity, but he ended up going to Europe and winning Elitloppet (in 2016), so he ended up to be a top stallion over there, too.

“So, it’s not easy when you have three horses as good at that. Trixton made a little shy of a million and the rest of them made way over a million, so we basically won everything that year with our 3-year-olds.”

The next year, Takter again had a favorite heading into the Hambletonian.

Pinkman was driven by Gingras, who also drove the fantastic filly Mission Brief.

When both Pinkman and Mission Brief won their Hambletonian eliminations, a decision needed to be made by Gingras, and it did not go in Takter’s favor.

“I got pissed at Yannick after that, and I said, ‘Yannick, well now you know you’re going to get f – – ked, because now I’m going to beat your ass here,’” Takter said.

Two-time Hambletonian champ Brian Sears was available, so Takter asked him to take the lines on Pinkman.

“I could have driven the horse myself because I won the Hambletonian the year before, but Pinkman was so smart and he was a lazy horse and he knew me way too well,” Takter said. “I trained the horse so many times and he had no respect for me, and actually that horse was so smart that it almost was a plus to change drivers a little frequently.

“So, I said there is no way I’m going to jump up on him and Brian Sears is standing there. And, you know, Brian, he’s a top, top driver and he won the race. It just worked out.”

With four Hambletonian training victories, Takter is tied for second on the all-time list with Chuck Sylvester, behind Stanley Dancer, Billy Haughton and Ben White, who all have five.

Had he not retired from training in 2018, it would be easy to assume that, over time, Takter could have tied or even passed the current record holders, but he said he has no regrets.

“No, I’m so tickled to death, my daughter [Nancy] won the last two years,” Takter said. “I mean, when she won with Tactical Approach, for the first time, and I didn’t own anything in Tactical Approach, I had a feeling, and it was the same with Karl, it was like me winning and maybe better.

“When your children do well, you’re very proud of that… and she didn’t train that many trotters [at that time].

“One race for sure you can never predict is the Hambletonian.”

Although not training, Takter still owns, jogs and occasionally drives horses.

“I think to be a top trainer you really have to love the horse first, and I love the horses, I just love to be around them,” Takter said, adding with a laugh. “I like horses more than I like a lot of people.”