by Jeff Zidek, for the MSOA

Washington, PA — Hidden Viggorish, arguably one of the top trotters ever to race at The Meadows, has been retired from racing at the age of seven.

Owned by the Miller family’s Harmony Spring Stable, and trained throughout her career by Bill Zendt, Hidden Viggorish retires as a triple track record holder. Unraced at two except for winning a qualifier in 2:05.3, she set a world record with a 1:53.1 performance as a 3-year-old in 2006, a year in which she won 12 of 15 starts and banked just under a quarter of a million dollars.

The next season, she set her second track record, 1:54.1, a new standard for 4-year-old trotting mares.

After winning just two races in 13 starts in 2008, the daughter of SJ’s Caviar-Tia Maria (Giant Victory) showed that she could still set records, posting a 1:53.2 victory, the fastest in track history for an aged mare, in 2009. She rebounded to win 10 of 27 starts and earned over $196,000, ultimately winning top honors as the track’s Horse of the Year for 2009.

The original plan was to bring her back for another year of racing, but an ankle problem has led the owners to make the decision to end her career.

“She had a recurring problem with her left ankle,” said co-owner Mike Miller. “There were some issues with cartilage. We sent her down to Lexington and had x-rays taken. We were told that we could probably get her back to the races, but would have a hard time keeping her there.”

Another problem involved the speed at which she would have been expected to carry to compete.

“We didn’t want to cheapen her. We decided that if we can’t race her at the top levels, then we should just retire her.”

Hidden Viggorish will now begin a new career as a broodmare. She is currently in foal to Muscles Yankee.

“We were able to get the booking, bred her once, and she is in foal and due next March,” said Miller. “We also looked into Muscle Hill and Yankee Glide. We were on the waiting list for Muscle Hill, and we liked the match with Yankee Glide, but the opportunity to breed to Muscles Yankee came up and we really liked this matchup as well, so we took it. All three would have been great choices. She’s from SJ’s Caviar’s first crop, so there really isn’t a lot of history with breeding to those mares to try and find a similar cross.”

Regarding Hidden Viggorish, Miller said, “She’s not real big, but she’s like a 55-gallon drum with legs. Her upper body is heavy-boned, but not her legs. We wanted to find a matchup that wouldn’t give us a big, thick, heavy horse.”

The world champion is now enjoying her days at Shaffer Standardbreds in Masontown, Pa., where she has rejoined the rest of her family. Her mother, Tia Maria, has a Conway Hall colt by her side this year and has been bred back to SJ’s Caviar. Ringside Rosie, a 5-year-old sister to Hidden Viggorish, is on the farm with a Glidemaster filly at her side.

“It’s a great family,” said Miller. “Ringside Rosie had all the talent in the world but had an OCD on her stifle so we bred her at three. Her Glidemaster filly is a striking individual. There’s also a 2-year-old full brother to Hidden Viggorish named El Sid, who is a little bigger and longer, he’s turned out right now, and we have a Conway Hall half-sister to her that is a yearling right now.”

Miller is unsure of what his family will do with the first foal from Hidden Viggorish.

“If it’s a filly, we will keep her. If it’s a colt, we’ll consult with Bill Zendt. It will also depend upon how the rest of the stable is doing.”

Hidden Viggorish retires with $537,029 in earnings and 28 victories in 75 career starts.