In this final installment of our three-part look at the history of tale-male bloodlines in harness racing, we will look at the unfolding of pacing lines, and some similarities (and dissimilarities) to their trotting counterparts.

In the debut article of this series (Oct-Nov, 1997), we identified the links to Hambletonian's sons that virtually all performers of note carry. We also traced the lineage from five of Hambletonians son's to the present day. We will not re-trace those steps in this offering - so if you want to look at that early history, please go to that page.

For the purposes of this examination of modern-day pacing lines, we will recall the following from that November page - that of the five great sons of Hambletonian (Dictator, George Wilkes, Strathmore, Happy Medium and Electioneer), only two hold significance in terms of the here-and-now, as far as pacing lines go. They are Happy Medium ... and Electioneer.

Happy Medium, as we saw in the previous BLOODlines, virtually owns the trotting world, through lines stemming from his great-grandsons, Peter Scott (Scotland) and Peter Volo (Volomite). On the pacing side of the coin, the Scotland line has never produced a sire of note, and for all intents Overcall was the last gasp in that endeavour. Of course, the Scotland line remains the predominant trotting force.

Volomite produced an almost identical number of pacers (304) as trotters (305), among them some of the greatest at both gaits. The Volomite trotting lines - through his sons Worthy Boy and Victory Song - were well documented last time. Volomite's pacing lines have reached the modern day through two other sons, Poplar Byrd and Sampson Hanover.

Poplar Byrd:

Poplar Byrd was a very successful stallion in the 1950's and 1960's, and sired such important performers as Bye Bye Byrd and Triple Crown winning Rum Customer. However, Rum Customer was a virtual flop as a sire, leaving the future of this line of the Volomite pacing tree to Bye Bye Byrd.

Bye Bye Byrd produced many great race performers, which subsequently found their way into the breeding sheds of the top farms. The list of Bye Bye Byrd sons at stud include the following: Keystone Ore, Armbro Nesbit, Bye Bye Andy, Bye Bye Pat, Entrepreneur, Say Hello, Nardin's Byrd, Tarport Effrat, Keystone Smartie and Bye And Large ... among scores of others.

It has long been posited that Armbro Nesbit's death after just three crops cost the sport a sire line. This may be true (the same could be argued for Nihilator, Billy Direct, Lee Tide and a few others), as Armbro Nesbit proved a formidable broodmare sire from his small sample of producers.

Keystone Ore has had a relatively good opportunity to continue the line, but his sons It's Fritz, Supreme Jade and Waveore (among others) appear to be marking the gravestone of the Poplar Byrd line.

Sampson Hanover:

Sampson Hanover was a trotting-bred pacer, and was bred to both trotting and pacing mares. His most important contribution to the sport, however, would come through his son Sampson Direct, a world champion pacer and renowned broodmare sire in the 1970's and 1980's.

Sampson Direct had not produced a legitimate son worthy of note - until 1979, when a 3-year-old named Direct Scooter started turning heads. Remarkably, Direct Scooter was the son of a pacing daughter of Noble Victory ... who in turn was out of a Scotland mare. Perhaps even more astonishing ... Sampson Direct (1957) ... and Direct Scooter (1976) were both bred by K.D. Owen, who also owned Sampson Hanover during his racing career in the late 1950's.

Direct Scooter has been a very successful sire over the past 15 years, producing two sub-1:50 pacers (Matts Scooter and In The Pocket), and numerous world champions. Although his colts have always been well-received at yearling sales, Direct Scooter fillies have perennially been of the "bargain basement" variety - despite having proved themselves to be tremendous broodmares over recent years.

Although being represented by many sons at stud (more than 25 at last count), it would appear that the Sampson Direct line - and therefore the Volomite pacing line - has all its eggs in one basket ... that of Matts Scooter p, 3, T 1:48.2, still the fastest sophomore pacer of all time, 10 years after taking his mark. As an aside here, I spoke with Mike Lachance the morning after his Triple Crown finale with Western Dreamer, and he still immediately responds that Matts Scooter is the best pacer he has ever driven.

Although it may be that one of the other Direct Scooter sons could produce a son or grandson of enormous magnitude (who would have figured Oil Burner to produce the likes of No Nukes?), Matts Scooter by far has the greatest opportunity to carry on the line. There has been a knock against the Matts Scooter offspring though - those that have exhibited tremendous 2-year-old speed have generally not made it back to the top ranks as sophomores. Freedoms Friend, His Mattjesty, Mattduff, Mattalac, Mattcando, Mattman and Lady Ann Mathew have all been guilty of the Matts Scooter "sophomore jinx". Only Mystical Maddy - to this point in time - has been able to compete at the highest echelons of the sport at 2,3 and four. This could bode well for Matts Scooter's future as a broodmare sire ... but we are still looking for a tail-male link to the pacing future of Volomite. Will it be there?

The rest of the pacing world owes its existence to two branches tracing to The Abbe, a grandson of Electioneer foaled in 1903. The first branch, stemming from The Abbe's son Bert Abbe (1922) to Gene Abbe (1944) ... comes to us today through Big Towner (1974) and his sons. And while Big Towner has been a tremendous sire for the past two decades, this sire-line has been hanging on by a thread for decades, and is doing so again. Big Towner sons like Walton Hanover, Towner's Big Guy and Apache Circle (Apache's Fame) have produced a number of credible performers, but none that appear capable of extending the line.

Then again, it has been 19, 22 and 30 years respectively to move from The Abbe to Bert Abbe to Gene Abbe to Big Towner.

Hal Dale:

Hal Dale was a grandson of The Abbe - through the great pacing sire Abbedale. In one way or other, there is virtually no pacer competing today without Hal Dale blood in his veins. For this reason, I am going to break down the Hal Dale clan into three branches ... through his sons Good Time, Adios and Dale Frost.

Good Time:

An absolute powerhouse as a pacer, the diminutive Good Time (1946) stood successfully for three decades, and produced a number of top performers. These included such sires as Race Time, Columbia George, Chris Time, Good Show and Crash - among scores of others. In the end, the future of the Good Time line was in the hands of the Race Time sons Lime Time and Dream Maker, and they were unable to further the cause.

Adios:

One of the greatest sires in the history of the sport, Adios (1940) is still the leading sire of Little Brown Jug winners with eight - including five in a row from 1958 to 1962. He was also the sire of Triple Crown winners Adios Butler and Bret Hanover. Needless to say, Adios and his sons were in great demand throughout the 1960's and 1970's, and they in turn produced many great performers, who in turn found their way to the stud.

The legendary Bret Hanover produced such top sires as Storm Damage, Warm Breeze and Strike Out - all of whom produced great performers, and successful siring sons ... none of whom were able to further the Adios branch of the Hal Dale line.

In the end, it was the moderately successful Henry T. Adios who would inherit the distinction of carrying on the line ... through his son Silent Majority ... and thence to Abercrombie. Abercrombie, like Direct Scooter - came along at a time when there was an enormous amount of Meadow Skipper blood in the sport, and as an outcross sire, became very popular with the breeders of the early 1980's.

The extremely positive results of these breedings were seen immediately, and within a relatively short period of time, Abercrombie sons began producing, thus bringing back into favour the Adios branch from Hal Dale. Today, Abercrombie blood finds its way to us through Life Sign, Albert Albert, Kentucky Spur, Sportsmaster, Armbro Emerson and a host of others.

But by far the most significant son of Abercrombie is the incredible Artsplace. For the first time in history, a first-crop stallion has become the ALL-AGE money-winning sire - and Artsplace did it convincingly. Artsplace's 2 & 3-year-olds earned over $8.9M in 1997, more than $1.2M more than his next competitor. AND, that competitor was ... Abercrombie. I'll be writing more on Artsplace next month, but suffice it to say that already Artsplace sons (Arturo, Dream Away) are being placed in the stud ... and the future of the Adios sire line is secured once more.

Dale Frost (Meadow Skipper):

Although he was a relatively successful sire, Dale Frost would be long-forgotten if not for the fact that he gave the harness world the immortal Meadow Skipper. From his first crop, Meadow Skipper produced Triple Crown winner Most Happy Fella, and from his second-last crop produced Triple Crown winner Ralph Hanover. In between, Meadow Skipper so revolutionized the sport that today there can scarcely be found a pacer that does not have at least one - and often more than four - returns to him.

Meadow Skipper sons include Chairmanoftheboard, Computer, Distant Thunder, Escape Artist, Escort, Falcon Almahurst, French Chef, Landslide, Nero, Ralph Hanover, Senor Skipper and Smog. Each of these, and many others, have produced successful performers. But none can compare to Meadow Skipper's two great sons, Most Happy Fella and Albatross.

Albatross:

For the decade from the mid-70's to the mid-80's - if you didn't have a son or daughter of Albatross, you were getting beat by one. Albatross absolutely dominated the pacing world from his early crops until the mid-1980's ... B.G.'s Bunny, Sonsam, Niatross, Merger ... fillies like Fan Hanover, Three Diamonds, Passing Glance - every year the world records would fall, and with regularity the authors of those records were the offspring of Albatross.

Albatross sons were everywhere to be found - on the track and in the breeding sheds. And, many of them appeared destined for success in the early going: B.G.'s Bunny (McKinzie Almahurst) ... Sonsam (Radiant Ruler) ... Niatross (Nihilator). But in the mid-80's, the Albatross ship was scuttled - by Albatross MARES!

It is my contention that Albatross blood, through his mares (and those of his sons), has raised even ordinary sires beyond levels they could otherwise achieve. And top sires? Well, it is no wonder that No Nukes (Western Hanover, Die Laughing, Nadia Lobell, Immortality), Cam Fella (Camtastic, Precious Bunny, Carlsbad Cam) and Abercrombie (Artsplace, Life Sign, Albert Albert) have produced such incredible performers in the past decade. Each of these, and many more, owe their tremendous ability in large part to the blood of Albatross.

Of course, Albatross sons and grandsons could not (reasonably) be bred to Albatross daughters, thus placing them at a distinct disadvantage in juxtaposition to other sires and sire-lines. And along the way, Albatross sons understandably fell out of favour. It is remarkable indeed that from 66 2-year-olds in 1997 - Albatross sent out nine in 2:00 and three in 1:54 ... all on 5/8 mile tracks. After all, Albatross is now 30 years old.

Hanover Shoe Farms made a noteworthy move when they brought Ball And Chain onto their stallion roster in 1997. The most successful cross to Albatross has always been a Bret Hanover mare (as is B&C's), and it may be that the Albatross broodmare influence is now far enough away in many of today's top mares to allow for a healthy return to Ball And Chain.

Most Happy Fella:

From his very first crop, Most Happy Fella was always a great sire. The progeny of both he and Albatross climbed quickly to the upper echelons of the sport, taking their sires with them. For many years through the 1970's and 1980's, Most Happy Fella, Albatross - and the father of both, Meadow Skipper - ranked 1-2-3 as money-winning stallions (then later as broodmare sires ... in fact, Most Happy Fella and Meadow Skipper are still among the top-10 in this category, in spite of both being dead for over 15 years).

The offspring of Most Happy Fella often didn't exhibit the blazing early speed of Albatross and Meadow Skipper. But, the Most Happy Fella foals regularly raced on as aged performers - Armbro Splurge, Division Street, Tarport Hap, Mistletoe Shalee, Oil Burner illustrate this point.

But the sons of Most Happy Fella accomplished something that the sons of Albatross are still trying to do - they furthered the sire line. Oil Burner produced No Nukes ... Happy Motoring produced On The Road Again ... Tyler B. produced Tylers Mark (and a number of more recent "unproven" sires) ... and Most happy Fella himself gave us Cam Fella.

As mentioned earlier, the Most Happy Fella line has been the beneficiary of Albatross blood, through his mares. The result of that inbreeding (3x3, 4x3) has been fast early speed, as well as longevity, and a host of Most Happy Fella-line stallions at farms around the world.

Interestingly, the Most Happy Fella "double-cross" - as I have termed it - has not worked. Generally speaking, the crossing back to a great sire will (at least occasionally) produce a meaningful performer. For instance, there have been remarkable performers with a 2x3 Adios cross (Armbro Omaha) ... 3x2 Albatross (Shore Patrol) ... 3x3 Meadow Skipper (any Cam Fella from an Albatross dam) ... 3x4 Bret Hanover (Camluck and many others). But, the MHF "doublecross" has not worked.

Now, before we go on, I will acknowledge that there have been a few noteable performers crossed to Most Happy Fella. On The Road Again, Armbro Emerson, Dexter Nukes - among others - have occasionally crossed well to Tyler B. mares etc. But, I have been following this cross since 1987 (Cam Fella / Precious Fella mare - 2x3 MHF) ... I am well aware of Camorous (Cam Fella / No Nukes mare - 2x4 MHF) ... and Armbro Rosebud (4x3) ... Athena Blue Chip and Orchard Street (3x4) ... and lots of others who have risen above the curse. But honestly ... how many times do you think a sire with MHF in his pedigree (even on his mare's side) has been bred to a mare with MHF on hers? Thousands? TENS of thousands maybe? I'll pass.

The Most Happy Fella sire line has essentially split into two main factions - one led by No Nukes, and the other by Cam Fella. Clearly - at this point - No Nukes is leading the way. With sons like Western Hanover, Jate Lobell, Dexter Nukes, Die Laughing and Jeremy's Gambit (among many others), No Nukes is going to be represented for a long time, and has already exhibited an ability to "pass it on". Plus, he is still pumping out foals every year, and at 19 years of age, may be around for a while yet.

Interestingly, despite having produced a huge number of great performers over the past decade, No Nukes has yet to produce a 1:50 horse.

Cam Fella has been a greater producer - in fact, he has produced nine in 1:50 or better, and two in sub-1:49 ... a $3 Million winner ... five $2 Million winners, and 12 millionaires.

But, Cam Fella sons have not produced to the degree that the No Nukes sons have. For instance, Western Hanover has produced a triple crown winner from his first crop. Dexter Nukes gave us Shes A Great Lady and The Big Dog, among a host of stakes winners. Jate Lobell has been a supreme "early speed" sire since his first crop.

In the meantime, Camtastic was a relative flop as a sire, and Precious Bunny, Goalie Jeff, Carlsbad Cam and Cambest have not set the world afire with their early crops. In fact, the undisputed "king of Cams" at this writing is Camluck, an Ontario-based stallion that has established himself as a legitimate top-5 sire after just two moderate crops. Camluck produced the 1998 New Jersey-bound sire Northern Luck, who in 1997 matched Niatross' 1:49.1 mark at Lexington ... in a race!

There are still a number of untried Cam Fella sons ... Presidential Ball's second crop and first 3-year-olds will race this year, and will be followed by first crops from Cam's Card Shark and Village Jiffy ... then upcoming offspring by Armbro Operative, Village Connection, and a number of other Cam fella sons at stud. Clearly, Cam Fella's branch of the Most Happy Fella sire line has much to offer over the next few years.

So, there we have it. The pacing world today - in my opinion - comes down to a battle between three sire lines: the Volomite line through Matts Scooter ... the Adios line through Artsplace and other Abercrombie sons ... and the Most Happy Fella line through sons of Cam Fella and No Nukes. So, where is it going to go?

Again, as I said at the outset of this trilogy, prognostication is at best a dangerous hobby. However, I also believe that the best predictor of the future is the past. And this much I will say: there has never been a pacing sire that has exhinited the immediate impact of Artsplace. Maybe Albatross came close 20 years ago - and look what he went on to do.

I don't know what the undulations of the bloodline path will bring next. This much I do know ... whatever it brings by way of tail-male sires ... I want to have an Artsplace mare to return to it. But that's another story.

Ralph