Glidemaster: Richest single-season trotter in history
November 27, 2006,by Dean A. Hoffman
Glidemaster not only wrapped up the Triple Crown for trotters on Saturday night at Yonkers, but he became the richest single-season trotter in history with his rich win.
He ends his season with earnings of $1,918,701, surpassing the standard of $1,713,806 set by Windsong’s Legacy two seasons ago when he swept the Triple Crown for trotters.
Windsong’s Legacy set his record in a dozen starts, while Glidemaster started 15 times this year, giving Windsong’s Legacy a slight edge in earnings-per-start. In 2004 he averaged $142,817 per race, while Glidemaster’s pay rate in 2006 has been $127,913.
The biggest payday of the season for Glidemaster came in the Hambletonian, when he earned a cool $750,000 for trotting the fastest mile in Hambletonian history. Saturday night’s victory at Yonkers was his second-best payday, as he pocketed $364,465 for winning the Yonkers Trot over Algiers Hall and Ira K.
Glidemaster also banked $256,425 for his gutsy triumph in the Kentucky Futurity, the two-heat classic that is the highlight of each season’s Grand Circuit meet at the Red Mile.
He also earned a $225,000 payday when he finished second to Majestic Son in the Canadian Trotting Derby in late September.
Glidemaster’s record season is combined with his $49,023 earned as a freshman to give him $1,968,023 in career earnings — a nice return on investment for a $10,000 yearling that started only 20 times in his life. Only 17 trotters bred in North America have earned more in their career than the son of Yankee Glide.
Windsong’s Legacy earned $500,000 when he won the Hambletonian, and his Yonkers Trot win was worth only $195,600, but he also won the Canadian Trotting Classic, banking $450,645 in the final, and he also won the Stanley Dancer Trot for a $191,000 paycheck.
Third among all trotters in single-season earnings is Malabar Man, a winner of $1,679,862 in both North America and Europe in 1997. He won 13 of his 16 starts, including the Hambletonian ($500,000) and Breeders Crown ($297,000). His earnings per start come out to $104,991. His Breeders Crown win, it should be noted, was in Canada, and that was when Canadian earnings were counted at par in USTA records, thus enhancing the earnings of horses racing in Canada.
For many years, the record for a trotter in one year was the $1,610,608 earned by Prakas in his spectacular 1985 season, which included a two-heat Hambletonian and World Trotting Derby, as well as a Breeders Crown triumph. In that season, Prakas won 12 of his 18 starts.
Glidemaster – 2006 Summary of lines
| Date | Track Code | Track Size | No. | Coded Class | Purse/ Money Won | Fin. Pos. | Driver Name Trainer Name |
| 11/25/2006 | YR | *7 | YONKERS | $ 728,930 $ 364,465 | 1 | George Brennan Blair R Burgess | |
| 10/28/2006 | Wdb | S | *5 | D-BRDRSCRO | $ 500,000 $ 125,000 | 2 | George Brennan Blair R Burgess |
| 10/21/2006 | Wdb | S | *3 | D-BRDRSCRO | $ 25,000 $ 12,500 | 1 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 10/07/2006 | Lex | M | *11 | D-KY FUT F | $ 184,100 $ 197,250 | 1 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 10/07/2006 | Lex | M | *7 | D-KY FUT E | $ 118,350 $ 59,175 | 1 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 09/23/2006 | Moh | S | *7 | D-CDN TROT | $ 900,000 $ 225,000 | 2 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 09/16/2006 | Moh | S | *5 | D-CDN TROT | $ 35,600 $ 8,900 | 2 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 09/09/2006 | Moh | S | *2 | SIMCOE | $ 117,903 $ 58,951 | 1 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 08/05/2006 | M | M | *8 | D-Hambo F | $ 1,500,000 $ 750,000 | 1 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 07/29/2006 | M | M | *2 | D-Hambo E | $ 100,000 $ 25,000 | 2 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 07/21/2006 | M | M | *2 | 3yr | $ 15,000 $ 7,500 | 1 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 07/09/2006 | Moh | S | *1 | NW4R82000LCD | $ 20,700 $ 10,350 | 1 | Blair R Burgess Blair R Burgess |
| 07/02/2006 | Moh | S | *4 | NW17000L6C | $ 18,900 $ 4,725 | 2 | Blair R Burgess Blair R Burgess |
| 06/17/2006 | Wdb | S | *3 | D-GOODTIME | $ 252,540 $ 63,135 | 2 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 06/10/2006 | Wdb | S | *5 | GOODTIMES | $ 27,000 $ 6,750 | 2 | John D Campbell Blair R Burgess |
| 05/26/2006 | Moh | S | *3 | QUA | $ 0 $ 0 | 1 | Blair R Burgess |
| 05/16/2006 | Moh | S | *4 | QUA | $ 0 $ 0 | 4 | Blair R Burgess |