International Trot

The International Trot is a harness racing event held in the New York City area that aimed to appeal to a mix of United States and international entrants. The inaugural event was held at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York in 1959, and was held at the track until its closure in 1988. Thereafter, the race moved to Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York. The initial running was held at a distance of 1.5 miles (2.4 km), with subsequent races held at a distance of 1.25 miles (2.01 km).

In advance of its third running in 1961, The New York Times described that "There are many harness racing stakes that are older and quite a few that are richer, but there is none, that for glamour, pageantry, excitement and wild wagering matches the Roosevelt International Trot."^[1]

Yonkers Raceway announced in 2014 that they would return the International Trot to the racing schedule after a hiatus of almost 20 years.^[2] With a purse of $1 million, the 2015 International Trot was won by Papagayo E,^[3] giving Norway their first win in the race.

Race history

1959

In 1959, a trotter from France named Jamin was scheduled to run in the inaugural International Trot at Roosevelt Raceway. The track's publicist, Joe Goldstein spread the word that the horse's chances were affected by the loss of over 150 pounds of artichokes that had been impounded, and then misplaced, by the United States Department of Agriculture at Idlewild Airport. Goldstein placed ads in The New York Times and New York Herald Tribune that read "French Trotter Needs Artichokes. Can You Help?", including a phone number of Roosevelt Raceway. Newspapers gave the story extensive play, with locals bring their backyard-grown artichokes to the track and United Airlines flying artichokes in from Watsonville, California, the artichoke capital of America. The horse was energized after eating the artichokes, or so Goldstein said, and went on to win the race in front of a crowd of 45,000.^[4] Jamin held on to win in front of a crowd of 48,000 spectators, with the Italian horse Tornese in second by half a length and betting favorite Trader Horn, an American entry, in third, 2¼ lengths out of second. Jamin ran the mile-and-a-half in 3:08.6.^[5]

1960

Both first-time champion Jamin and Ruder Konge of Denmark dropped out of the 1960 race.^[6] The 9-year old Hairos II, driven by Willem Geersen, went on to win the mile-and-a-quarter second running in a field of seven in a time of 2:34, defeating the Italian horse Crevalcore by a half-length, with the American entry Silver Song, a 9-5 favorite, in third by a half-length behind Crevalcore. The crowd of 54,861 set a record, breaking the prior mark of 50,337 set at the track in August 1957.

1961

Hairos II was unable to defend his title in the 1961 race, after suffering a bowed tendon during a win in a race in The Hague.^[7] At the 1961 International Trot, a French horse named Kracovie that had won that year's European circuit was missing a stablemate, either a mountain sheep or a goat, that could not be brought into the United States due to quarantine regulations, and would not eat in the absence of its companion.^[8] As described by George Vecsey in the Times, "The entertainer Tina Louise just happened to have a goat in her Manhattan apartment. Wearing a low-cut dress, she and her agent and the goat paid a mission of mercy to Roosevelt."^[4] Despite the publicity, and the goat, Kracovie lost the race to Su Mac Lad, with Tie Silk in third. Su Mac Lad, driven by Stanley Dancer, finished in a time of 2:34.4 in driving rain and a sloppy track in front of 28,105 racing fans.^[9]

1962

The lightly regarded Canadian horse Tie Silk, who had finished in third the previous year and sixth the year before, won the $50,000 race in front of a crowd of 53,279. Six-year-old Tie Silk, driven by Keith Waples, won in a time of 2:34.2, with favorite and returning winner Su Mac Lad in second and world record holder Porterhouse in third. The betting handle of $2,793,596 set a world record for a harness racing program, breaking the prior record set at the second running of the International Trot.^[10]

1963

Su Mac Lad, who had won in 1961 but dropped to second in 1962, returned to win the 1963 running in a seven-horse field, before a crowd of 41,197 of what The New York Times called "screaming harness racing buffs". The Dutch horse Martini II came in second, with returning champion Tie Silk in third. Driven by Stanley Dancer, Su Mac Lad paid bettors $2.90 to win in tying a world record at the 1¼-mile distance with a time of 2:32.6. The 9-to-20 favorite came in a half-length ahead of Martini II who in turn beat Tie Silk by 7.5 lengths. The $25,000 taken home by Su Mac Lad brought his career winnings to $687,549, the most of any pacer or trotter as of that date.^[11]

1988

After the demise of Roosevelt Raceway in 1988, the race was relocated to Yonkers Raceway.^[12] Mack Lobell won the first Yonkers edition of the race in a track record time of 2:30 4/5.

Past winners

Winners of the race include the following:^[13]

Year	First	Driver	Second	Third
1959	Jamin	Jean Riaud	Tornese	Trader Horn
1960	Hairos II	Willem Geersen	Crevalcore	Silver Song
1961	Su Mac Lad	Stanley Dancer	Kracovie	Tie Silk
1962	Tie Silk	Keith Waples	Su Mac Lad	Porterhouse
1963	Su Mac Lad	Stanley Dancer	Martini II	Tie Silk
1964	Speedy Scot	Ralph Baldwin	Su Mac Lad	Pick Wick
1965	Pluvier III	Gunnar Nordin	Steno	Quioco
1966	Armbro Flight	Joe O'Brien	Roquepine	Noble Victory
1967	Roquepine	Henri Levesque	Fresh Yankee	Governor Armbro
1968	Roquepine	Jean-Rene Gougeon	Kentucky Fibber	Fresh Yankee
1969	Une de Mai	Jean-Rene Gougeon	Nevele Pride	Fresh Yankee
1970	Fresh Yankee	Joe O'Brien	Tidalium Pelo	Stylish Major
1971	Une de Mai	Jean-Rene Gougeon	Fresh Yankee	Dart Hanover
1972	Speedy Crown	Howard Beissinger	Une de Mai	Fresh Yankee
1973	Delmonica Hanover	John Chapman	Spartan Hanover	Une de Mai
1974	Delmonica Hanover	John Chapman	Keystone Gary	Dosson
1975	Savoir	Delmer Insko	Bellino II	Surge Hanover
1976	Equileo	Bernard Froger	Bellino II	Meadow Bright
1977	Delfo	Sergio Brighenti	Bellino II	Dapper Dillon
1978	Cold Comfort	Peter Haughton	Petite Evander	Hadol du Vivier
1979	Doublemint	Peter Haughton	Express Gaxe	Charme Asserdal
1980	Classical Way	John F. Simpson, Jr.	Ideal du Gazeau	Petite Evander
1981	Ideal du Gazeau	Eugene Lefevre	Jorky	Pamir Brodde
1982	Ideal du Gazeau	Eugene Lefevre	Zebu	Nino Blazing
1983	Ideal du Gazeau	Eugene Lefevre	Legolas	Ianthin
1984	Lutin d'Isigny	Jean-Paul Andre	The Onion	Crown Wood
1985	Lutin d'Isigny	Jean-Paul Andre	Sandy Bowl	Ogorek
1986	Habib	Ulf Thoresen	Robins Wonder	Mack the Knife
1987	Callit	Karl O. Johansson	Potin d'Amour	Tabor Lobell
1988	Mack Lobell	John Campbell	A.J.'s Speed	Go Get Lost
1989	Kit Lobell	Berndt Lindstedt	Indus	Mack Lobell
1990	Reve d'Udon	Yves Dreux	No Sex Please	Meadow Roland
1991	Peace Corps	Stig H. Johansson	Reve d'Udon	Florida Jewel
1992	Atas Fighter L.	Torbjörn Jansson	Night Court Dan	Ursulo de Crouay
1993	Giant Force	John Patterson Jr	Meadow Prophet	Sea Cove
1995	His Majesty	Stefan Melander	S.J.'s Photo	Panifesto
1996-2014	Not run
2015	Papagayo E	Ulf Ohlsson	Timoko	Creatine
2016	Resolve	Åke Svanstedt	Oasis Bi	Flanagan Memory

• Run at Roosevelt Raceway (1959-1987) and Yonkers Raceway (1988-Present)

References