by Dean A. Hoffman

Dean Hoffman

Columbus, OH — Not only was Mack Lobell one of the fastest trotters ever, he was also one of the smartest.

He demonstrated that in winning the 1987 Hambletonian in record time even when he wasn’t at his best. His feet were stinging him and he even switched over to the pace while scoring down before the race.

In the Hambletonian final, however, Mack was all trot until he hit the wire. Then he began galloping. He trotted to the finish line but no further. He was smart enough to know where the race ended and to know what he had to do.

Even though Mack wasn’t at his best, he was still good enough to wallop his rivals in the big dance. John Campbell always said that when he slid into the sulky behind Mack and took the lines, he realized how privileged he was.

That’s because Mack simply had more sheer speed than any trotter the sport had seen. He could leave the gate like a scalded ape and seize control of a race immediately. The few times Mack raced from behind, he came out of the hole like a hobbled pacer and blew past the leaders before they could respond.

Mack deservedly came into the 1987 Hambletonian as the strong favorite with only Napoletano deemed capable of upsetting him. To add drama to the big moment, the two drew into separate elimination heats.

Mack had the outside post seven in his elim, but Campbell had so much confidence that he allowed Mack to float around the first turn three-wide. Once Mack made the top, the race was all but official as Mack cruised to victory in 1:54.

Napoletano won his elimination just as easily.

Campbell told trainer Chuck Sylvester that Mack’s feet seemed to be stinging him in the opening heat, so Sylvester pulled Mack’s front shoes and added a pair of pads to cushion the impact of the hard track surface.

Campbell sent Mack to the lead in the final with Bill O’Donnell dropping Napoletano in on his back. Driver Jim Doherty was stuck on the outside with Waikiki Beach down the backstretch and he launched a short-lived Mack attack. That ended when Waikiki Beach jumped. From that point, the race was simply the Mack Lobell show as the brown colt trotted away from his pursuers, perhaps thinking, “Feets, don’t fail me now.”

Mack’s feet didn’t fail him. He won by more than six lengths in a new Hambo record of 1:53.3. But the moment Mack hit the wire, he’d had enough. He began running.

Mack was smart enough to know he’d reached the finish line and he could do whatever he damn well pleased if he was the first horse there. A stirring ovation greeted him as he entered the winner’s circle.

A couple weeks later Mack set the world record for trotters with a 1:52.1 mile at the Illinois State Fair.

Mack Lobell had a mind of his own and he showed it at times on the track. He would seem to lose interest if there were no horses pressing him and he could get temperamental and balky.

Still that didn’t stop him from becoming a superstar on both sides of the Atlantic. He was truly one of the greatest of all Hambletonian winners.

Editor’s Note: For the most complete Hambletonian coverage on the Web, be sure to visit www.ustrotting.com beginning next Monday and head to our Hambletonian mini-site for all the news and exclusive features pertaining to the sport’s greatest trotting race!