Hambletonian 10
Encyclopedia
Standardbred horse
Standardbreds are a breed of horse best known for their ability to race in harness at a trot or pace instead of under saddle at a gallop. Developed in North America, the breed is now recognized worldwide for its harness racing ability...
breed. The stallion was born in Sugar Loaf, NY on 5 May 1849. Hambletonian has been inducted into the Immortals category of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame
Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame
The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame is a museum in Goshen, New York. The museum collects and preserves the history of harness racing and serves as a hall of fame for trotter horses....
.
Origin and early years
Hambletonian 10 bred by Jonas Seely, Jr. on his farm at Sugar LoafSugar Loaf, New York
Sugar Loaf is a hamlet in Orange County, New York, United States. It is located in the Town of Chester.-History:Sugar Loaf, New York was founded in the 1740s as a waypoint along King's Highway, providing supplies and horses to travelers....
in Orange County, New York
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...
. He was sired by Abdallah who was a grandson of the hugely influential Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
sire, Messenger
Messenger (horse)
Messenger was an English Thoroughbred stallion bred by a John Pratt and imported into the newly formed United States of America just after the American Revolution.-Breeding:...
. Abdallah was ugly in body and temperament, so much so that he was sold to a fish peddlar for $5. Hambletonian's dam was known as the Charles Kent Mare or the "Kent Mare" by Bellfounder (GB), an imported Norfolk Trotter
Norfolk Trotter
The Norfolk Trotter is an extinct horse breed once native to East Anglia and Norfolk, England. It was said to be "a large-sized trotting harness horse originating in and around Norfolk"....
. Hambletonian was at least thrice inbred to Messenger (GB) (1780) in the third and forth generations (3x4x4). He is considered a foundation sire of Standardbreds.
Seeley's hired hand, William Rysdyk, cared for the mare and foal. Rysdyk became so attached to the pair and was so convinced that the foal would someday be great that he asked to purchase them. Seeley finally agreed, and for $125 William Rysdyk took his prize possessions home.
Hambletonian had an unusual build, being low at the withers
Withers
The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of a four-legged animal. In many species it is the tallest point of the body, and in horses and dogs it is the standard place to measure the animal's height .-Horses:The withers in horses are formed by the dorsal spinal processes of roughly the...
(15.1 ¼ hh) but high at the croup
Rump (animal)
The rump or croup, in the external morphology of an animal, is the portion of the posterior dorsum that is posterior to the loins and anterior to the tail. Anatomically, the rump corresponds to the sacrum....
(15.3 ¼). This length of hind leg did, however, provide a great deal of thrust with each stride, and he passed this on to all his get.
Racing record
Hambletonian 10, from his Standard registered number, made his first public appearance at the age of six months at the nearby Orange County Fair in Goshen. He caused quite a sensation and horsemen started referring to him as "Rysdyk's Abdallah colt." Meanwhile another son of Abdallah, Abdallah Chief, owned by Seeley C. Roe, was looming as a competitor for the local stallion honors. Roe had nothing but contempt for Hambletonian, and claimed he'd never be a trotter, only a show horse. This issue was settled in 1852 at Long Island's Union Course. Hambletonian and Abdallah Chief were hitched to skeleton wagons with their owners driving. Three minutes and three seconds after the start, Hambletonian crossed the finish line ahead of his rival. Roe still wasn't satisfied and insisted on another race. A time trial was held. Abdallah Chief went the mile in 2:55½. Then Roe watched Hambletonian, in what would be the only time trial of his career, trot the mile in 2:48½.Stud record
Hambletonian 10 began his stud career at age two when Rysdyk allowed him to cover four mares. The horse's reputation as a speed sire quickly grew and Rysdyk then placed Hambletonian at stud in Chester and bred him to mares for a fee upwards of $500 with Rysdyk making a modest fortune from the horse's services.In the 1860s, one of his sons, Dexter, trotted the mile in 2:17¼;a record. Dexter was immediately bought for $25,000 by a Robert Bonner for his own private driving pleasure. A rigidly moral man, Bonner did not approve of racing or betting, so no one will ever know if Dexter could have trotted even faster. But ever since, no horse lacking lines to Hambletonian 10 in their pedigree has ever done better.
In 24 seasons at stud, between 1851 and 1875, Hambletonian produced about 1,335 foals. Through four of Hambletonian's sons (George Wilkes, Dictator, Happy Medium, and Electioneer), the lineage of virtually all North American
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
Standardbred horses can be traced to him.
Death
At age 27 on March 27, 1876, Hambletonian died. Both he and his owner, who had died in 1870, were buried in ChesterChester (town), New York
Chester is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 12,140 at the 2000 census. The town is named after another city in Great Britain...
, N.Y. Seventeen years after Hambletonian's death a granite monument, the gift of many people who had fond memories of the horse, was placed over his grave on Hambletonian Avenue.