Abercrombie Hall of Fame Feature No 1

Goshen, New York is the home of The Harness Racing Museum an amazing institution in the US. They have a fantastic collection of Harness Racing information and published material on their Hall Of Fame inductees that’s fascinating and which l believe is well worth sharing in Aus/Nz. I will focus on bringing small edited bits information from the HRM on horses that l think have a connection or will be of interest to our breeders. Please see their mission statement below, which l hope gives you an insight on the commitment and love they have for our sport.

“The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame is dedicated to comprehensive, active and authoritative support and promotion of the Standardbred industry through documentation and preservation of the history and traditions of this American-born sport. It will also continue to augment existing collections and provide extensive research, educational programming and exciting exhibitory to expand harness racing’s interest and appeal, both nationally and internationally, to assure an informed audience and a successful future.”

ABERCROMBIE

Abercrombie, the son of Silent Majority and Bergdorf by Duane Hanover, was bred by Walnut Hall Farm and owned by Keith Bulen of Indianapolis and Shirley Mitchell of Zionsville, Indiana. Foaled in 1975, Abercrombie was an outstanding racehorse, stakes and free-for-all winner from age two through four. In 1978, at the age of 3, he won 22 of 33 starts; he set a single-season money winning record of $703,260 and was voted Horse of the Year. That year, trained and driven by Immortal Glen Garnsey, his major victories included the Messenger, Adios, Prix d’Ete and Confederation Cup. A year later, Abercrombie set a 1:53m world record for four-year-old pacers, winning the U.S. Pacing Championship at the Meadowlands, New Jersey; this was the fastest race mile ever. He also won the American-National Maturity in 1:58.1 at Sportsman’s Park, Illinois.

Syndicated for $3 million as a sire, Abercrombie was especially noted for producing fast and durable pacers. This ability has brought the Adios sire line back to the highest levels of the sport. At the time of his death, Abercrombie had sired more than 1,700 foals that have earned nearly $130 million. Abercrombie’s credits also include 11 $1 million winners, led by Artsplace, winner of over $3 million. He has also sired 335 $100,000 winners. Three have gone in 1:50, 296 in 1:55 and 931 in 2:00. He was the leader of the annual money winning sires list four times and is currently the second-leading money winning sire of all time. Some of Abercrombie’s most famous performers are Artsplace, Life Sign, Albert Albert, Armbro Emerson, Anniecrombie, Armbro Dallas, Kentucky Spur, Topnotcher, Leah Almahurst and Laag. Several of Abercrombie’s sons are now making their mark on the breed, and his daughters are continually adding to his broodmare sire credits, which in 2000 stood at 849 in 2:00.

Abercrombie, whose lifetime winnings totalled $948,391, was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1999. He stood at stud at Castleton Farms, Lexington, Kentucky from 1980 until his death on November 14, 2000. He was buried at the farm.

Offspring of Abercrombie

Broodmare Sire Credits for Abercrombie (1975)

Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com

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