Hambletonian 10

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hambletonian 10 (b. May 5, 1849 - d. 1876) was a stallion bred by Jonas Seely, Jr. on his farm at Sugar Loaf in Orange County, New York. He was sired by Abdallah who was a grandson of the hugely influential Messenger. 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 only as the Kent Mare.

The true foundation of the Standardbred, Hambletonian 10 was purchased by a William Rysdyk for $125 and is therefore often referred to as "Rysdyk's Hambletonian."

Hambletonian never raced, but he once had his speed tested. He managed a decent time of 2 minutes 48 and a half seconds for a trial mile. This seems extremely slow by today's standards but wasn't too bad for the times. (Though even Zippy Chippy, America's biggest loser, might have managed to score a win off him.)

An odd looking beast, perhaps even laughable, Hambletonian was low at the withers (15.1 ¼ hh) but high at the croup (15.3 ¼). In other words, he had a huge behind. Because of such a large "rear engine," he also had a huge thrust...which he himself possessed and which he passed on to his get. In time, people stopped laughing when they saw his offspring run. In the 1860s, one of his sons, Dexter, trotted the mile in 2:17.25—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 without Hambletonian in their pedigree has ever done better.

In 24 seasons at stud, between 1851 and 1875, Hambletonian produced more than 1,300 foals. Through four of Hambletonian sons, 99 percent of all of the harness racing horses in North America today trace their bloodline to him.