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Originally Posted by Postime
BH's racing career lack's flair
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'Big Bum' was the reason I came over to The Dark Side!
Bret Hanover (May 19, 1962 - November 21, 1992), possibly the greatest ever pacing Standardbred, was born at Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania.
The son of the great sire,
Adios out of the mare
Brenna Hanover, Bret Hanover was born on
May 19,
1962. He would become one of only nine horses in history to win harness racing's honour by capturing the
Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers.
Trained and driven by
Frank Ervin in his 1964 debut season in racing, two-year-old Bret Hanover was undefeated, winning all 24 races he entered and would continue undefeated for 35 races. In his second season of racing, he was 21-for-24 and in his last year of racing at age four, he was 17-for-20 for a career total of 62 wins in 68 races. He never placed worse than third. He was voted
Horse of the Year for all three years by the
US Trotting Association and the
US Harness Writers Association, the only pacer ever to accomplish that. Bret Hanover was only ever beaten by three horses, one of them the great
Cardigan Bay, the first standardbred horse ever to win $1 million dollars.The others were ADIOS VIC AND TRUE DUANE.
Bret Hanover was retired as the fastest and richest standardbred. He went to stud at
Castleton Farm in
Lexington, Kentucky where he immediately became one of the most in-demand breeding stallions in harness racing history. Among his many successful offspring were
Little Brown Jug winners
Melvin's Woe and
Strike Out. He is remembered as one of the best broodmare sires of the century.
After his death on
November 21,
1992 Bret Hanover was buried at Lexington's
Kentucky Horse Park, and the statue that had been erected for him at Castleton Farm today stands at his gravesite.
