Trotters vs Pacers

[The Exporter]

Great drivers in every way. The "trotting man" is quite subjective. These guys were driving the best trotters in the world. Not to diminish their record but, this is not how I would rate a true trotting man. He would be one who was able to get high speed and sure footedness from trotters that all others could not.

[Lance]

I don't think there has every been anyone that make a trotter look so fluid as Åke Svanstedt.  Every single one of his that race look so natural.

[Parked]

Great drivers in every way. The "trotting man" is quite subjective. These guys were driving the best trotters in the world. Not to diminish their record but, this is not how I would rate a true trotting man. He would be one who was able to get high speed and sure footedness from trotters that all others could not.

👍👍👍👍👍

[Parked]

Sometimes, yes. But, todays trotter is much safer than those of yesteryear. Back then, you had people who fancied themselves as "trottingmen".

I remember 4 plus inch toes, toe weights and heavy (orange) bell boots . Brown bell boots were the lightest, then white, then white ribbed and finally the orange. There were also weighted quarter boots.  Anyone remember the rattlers ?. 
Where are all those trotting bred pacers ?? 

[old guy]

I don't think there has every been anyone that make a trotter look so fluid as Åke Svanstedt.  Every single one of his that race look so natural.

Stanley Dancer

[Grandstand Handicapper]

For me, I never owned a lot of trotters or owned them regularly. If something special came along, or there was a great opportunity, value, etc., then I would pull the trigger. But I never went out of my way to look for them. Regardless, back in the day, I always felt that for trotters you needed a "smart" driver, at least it took a "smart" driver to drive one, more than a pacer. Like with any horse, the driver needed horsepower between the shafts and he had to put the horse in a position to win. You needed a driver who had to have finesse, soft, but firm hands, who could find that perfect spot where the horse could maximize their speed, but of course not break.

Back in the day, while Campbell, O'Donnell, Jackie Mo, Ron Pierce, Mike Lachance, and others were very successful, Sonny Patterson Jr. was a top-notch driver for trotters. I always thought Cat Manzi had great hands too. Sonny's career got revitalized and he reinvented himself as a catch driver and got very popular after Ronnie Gurfein started using him for Lindy/Crown and he had Lou Guida in the barn as well. Yes, north of the border, Trevor Ritchie had amazing hands, great finesse, and a great feel for trotters. So did Steve Condren although he never became known as a specialist. Of all the great drivers though, none were better than Berndt Lindstedt. Nobody knows how great this guy was because he wasn't a catch-driver. He was truly great. Great skills, great hands, finesse, etc. He had it all.

[ROOSTER COGBURN]

There used to be trotting guys and pacing guys…..I find now there are a lot of guys that can go either way…..that’s my kind of trainer.

 

[ROOSTER COGBURN]

lost aof drivers now a days go both ways

I know a few trainers that go both ways also.  Double gaited, as London would say.

[Ohracing]

Bernt Linstedt,  Jan Johnson too. Any time there is talk of trotters, Carl Allen should be mentioned.
 Note the great # of trotters on hopples nowadays, which he invented.

Although Carl raced all of his trotter later in his career with trotting hopples he didn't invent them or was the first to start using them In the 90s.  An Australian by the name of Ross Shand was the one that Carl seen using them and adapted them to his stable after seeing them being used. 

[Grandstand Handicapper]

I think hobbles in general have been around a very, very long time. As it relates to the standardbred, I have no idea where Carl Allen first saw them, but he certainly used them and had a strong opinion about them, LOL. Based upon my history lessons in the sport, I always thought here in the US the early trotting hobbles were invented by John Browning, somewhere around the mid-1800's. He was from Indiana, and they became known as "Indiana Pants" or "Indiana Tanglers" only because some horses couldn't get used to them, got tangled up and fell down. They became controversial, even back in those days, LOL.

[Bitter Truth]

 I stand corrected. Just remember at the time being something that I or people around me had never seen. CR Kay Suzie.

[old guy]

Although Carl raced all of his trotter later in his career with trotting hopples he didn't invent them or was the first to start using them In the 90s.  An Australian by the name of Ross Shand was the one that Carl seen using them and adapted them to his stable after seeing them being used.

It was actually Ross’s father Ken Shand.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

I stand corrected. Just remember at the time being something that I or people around me had never seen. CR Kay Suzie.

I am not sure, but that's what I remember. I believe Skip Lewis said it was Stanley Dancer who told the story.

[kantseeback]

I agree that today there is probably much less separation between the two; however, back in the 70's and early 80's if I had a trotter racing at either Yonkers or Roosevelt I would always try and get John Patterson Jr as first choice and Benny Webster as #2.  I owned ONLY trotters for 30 years (with one exception for a pacer I leased) and it was MY OPINION (and shared by several others involved with mostly trotters, including Ron Gurfein) that there were 4 or 5 drivers whose hands seemed to work better with trotters than many of the other drivers.  Over the years the drivers whom my trotters had the most success with were Benny Webster, John Campbell, Walter Case, John Patterson Jr., Mike Gagliardi and Ron Waples.  These days Yannick seems to have a great feel for the trotters he drives.

Case was successful with trotters often in the 90's at YR because when they went off stride he went to the outside and let them gallop full speed until they got their trot back, so he didn't lose much ground, my friend Jeff put me wise to this, I think he posts on here.

One example I can remember is High Test Quality who broke on the first turn but went to the outside on the backstretch, stayed with the field, and got his trot back and by the final turn he was within striking distance and went on to win, he wasn't the favorite in the race.

[SDST2009]

I don't think there has every been anyone that make a trotter look so fluid as Åke Svanstedt.  Every single one of his that race look so natural.

He can hang one up. Never seen so many horses with open bridles, no overchecks and no boots. I know he is buying at an elite level (or at least his owners are) but his horses are beautifully gaited and look like a million bucks all the time.