by Dean A. Hoffman

by Dean Hoffman

At the time, I thought it was one of the dumbest things I’d ever heard.

It was Christmas morning back when I was maybe seven or eight years old. My sisters and I had greedily ripped open our presents: Army trucks, sports stuff, and games for me; clothes and games for my older sisters.

By today’s standards, it was a modest bounty, but I was as excited as….well, as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. I thought my new toy football game was the greatest thing going.

At one point I turned to my mother and asked, “Mom, what was the greatest gift you got?”

She said quietly, “Just having my family together at Christmas is the greatest gift I could ever want.”

I’m sure I had a puzzled look on my face. What did she say? I thought it was one of the dumbest things I’d ever heard.

Now the years have passed and I am a parent. My older daughter is home from her first year in college. It’s great having her part of the family again. She’s working over the holiday break at the Columbus Zoo. After growing up in the Hoffman House, working at the zoo doesn’t require much of an adjustment for her. The inmates at both places behave about the same.

I certainly recall coming home at Christmas during my freshman year in college. I grew up in Cincinnati, and my father was a dear and close friend of owner Samuel Huttenbauer and his private trainer Jim Hackett.

Mr. Huttenbauer was like a grandfather for me and I spent a lot of time at his farm a few miles from our home. That Christmas was special because we had a special horse in the barn. His name was Best Of All and he was fresh off a victory that fall in the Little Brown Jug.

Jim Hackett grew up in London, Ohio, just about 35 miles down Rte. 42 from Delaware, so the Jug was harness racing’s Holy Grail for him. Mr. Huttenbauer was an Ohioan, so winning the Jug was his proudest moment.

For a small private stable of a dozen horses or more to produce a Jug winner was a rare achievement and I idolized Best Of All. To some he may have simply been the horse in the corner stall, but to me he was the Jug winner and a nonpareil pacer.

Just as my daughter works over break, I worked over my Christmas breaks in college at the Huttenbauer Stable. At the time, I surely didn’t realize how difficult it was for them to fit a college kid into the schedule for a couple weeks, but they did and I sure appreciated the extra spending money.

I also appreciated the time that I got to spend with the other grooms and the trainers during the relaxing holiday period. The barn had only a dozen stalls, but there was an apartment for the grooms and they’d spend the cold winter days drinking coffee, smoking, playing cribbage, watching TV, and telling lies. I enjoyed every moment I was there.

By the time I was in college, my family exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve, so I would rise early on Christmas morning and head to Huttenbauer’s farm. My friends thought I was crazy for going to “work” on Christmas morning, but being around horses was never work for me.

The weather was usually cold, but the roads to the farm were never crowded at six or seven on Christmas morning. It was so quiet and tranquil in the old frame stable. The horses were allowed to stand up, of course, and that meant a day off for all of us. So I’d pass some of the morning listening to the horses contentedly munching their hay and watching the barn cats dart behind the tack trunks.

My wife and daughters exchanged gifts yesterday morning around the Christmas tree. I had to become a parent myself to fully appreciate why my mother thought that having her family together at Christmas was the greatest gift.

Yes, at the time I thought it was the dumbest things I’d ever heard. Now I think it’s one of the wisest.

Last week in my Free-Legged column, I mentioned some of the leading contenders for the Dan Patch Awards to be given in February and invited commentary. Here is a sampling of some of the comments I received:

I believe my mare Mystical Sunshine should be aged mare trotter of the year. She won 2 of the 3 biggest mare trots; the Breeders Crown and Classic. She showed up at every mare trot but one and raced against boys as well. This year she deserves her due.

Sid Korn

As I see it there are only two choices: Passionate Glide and Glidemaster. These two are remarkable animals, their accomplishments are astounding, even in defeat they were both outstanding. The determination, the heart, they know how to race and want to race. They like passing other horses and do not like other horses going by them. When you watch the replays of their races it shows….I think Passionate Glide and Glidemaster should share Horse of the Year honors.

Eugene E. Hickey

I believe that Glidemaster should be both Horse of the year and Trotter of the year. He was ultra consistent finishing 1st or 2nd 15 times in 15 starts. He set a record for yearly earnings for a trotter with $1.9 million. He set the record for the fastest Hambletonian heat ever with a 1:51.1 mark. But most of all he is the first trotting triple crown winner since 1972 to have won one of the races on a 1/2 mile track. His owners had to supplement him to the Yonkers trot, his first time around a 4 turner. He went a gritty and courageous mile parked first over for the last half.

Pacer of the year: Aged Pacer Lis Mara had a fine year with many big wins, a close call.

Aged Trotter: Sand Vic was excellent, but did not have the competition that was expected from the injured Mr Muscleman and Strong Yankee.

3yo filly Trotter Passionate Glide: had a great year but did not face the colts which I feel is necessary to get the top honor.

3yo colt pacer Total Truth: raced all over with some big wins and 1.5 million in earnings in a deep field of 3yos.

Artistic Fella looked to be a sure bet for divisional honors until his owner limited him to one track and skipped so many big races and then he tailed off greatly at the end of the year.

3yo Filly pacer Darlin’s Delight: another super consistent year to beat out My Little Dragon by a nose.

2yo colt Trotter Donato Hanover, 2yo filly Trotter Possess the Magic 2yo colt pacer Artzina, 2yo filly pacer Isabella Blue Chip.

Majestic Son had an excellent year but did not start outside of Canada and broke in the Ontario Super Gold final.

Kevin Conville