by Dean A. Hoffman

Dean Hoffman

Columbus, OH — This year’s World Trotting Derby is far more user-friendly, if I can use a term most often associated with technical gadgetry. Instead of a horse facing the challenge of two or possibly three heats, now it’s one dash for all the cash. And lots of cash, by the way. More than a half-million bucks.

That’s certainly one of the reasons that the Donato Hanover team opted to skip the Yonkers Trot and head for southern Illinois. He’s demonstrated his dominance on a mile track and he can try to extend his winning streak at Du Quoin without all the vicissitudes inherent on half-mile tracks.

Some people may claim that the World Trotting Derby format change robbed the race of its relevance, but, sadly, its stature has been diminished in recent years by the big name no-shows. Time was when no self-respecting sophomore trotter would miss the chance to race over the beautifully manicured mile Du Quoin track, but in recent years many trainers associated the race with heats and humidity. And they took a pass.

By going to one heat, the race is simply part of a larger trend in which speed, not stamina, is the defining characteristic of the Standardbred. Multiple heat races — regardless whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em — are seen as dinosaurs by some.

Now trainers can’t use heats as an excuse to go AWOL. Sure, it’s still a long ship to Du Quoin, but with so many trainers using The Red Mile as a late summer base, the ship is a lot more manageable. That’s exactly what Steve Elliott plans to do with Donato.

Lexington to Du Quoin is less than 300 miles, a much shorter ship than from the Meadowlands in New Jersey to Meadow Lands in Pennsylvania.

I’m delighted that Donato is going to Du Quoin and hope that other marquee colts make the ship because the future of the World Trotting Derby hangs in the balance. It’s hard to justify continuing a first-class race if the first-class colts don’t show up.

The World Trotting Derby was initiated as a replacement race for the Hambletonian when Du Quoin lost America’s greatest trotting classic to the Meadowlands. The first Hambo at the Meadowlands was won in 1981 by Shiaway St. Pat and the filly Panty Raid won the first World Trotting Derby a month later.

The WTD was created with the full support of Illinois governor Jim Thompson, and the late Curt Greene, a dear friend of mine for many years, labored hard to publicize the new race and to give it instant stature.

In 1981, Curt and I plotted to get a European horse — an Italian one, if my memory is correct — to come to Du Quoin to put the WTD on the map in the world of trotting, but it didn’t materialize. Nevertheless, every trotting horse trainer soon circled the WTD date on his calendar.

Through its first 26 renewals, there have been some memorable races; Prakas trotting the fastest mile (1:53.2) in history despite drifting out badly; Napoletano upsetting the vaunted Mack Lobell twice in the same afternoon; CR Kay Suzie avenging her loss in the Hambo; and Lindy Lane and Continentalvictory giving it everything they had through an opening half in :53.3.

While heats are history now in the WTD, unquestionably some of the most memorable renewals have been in three heat contests. Who can ever forget the gameness and courage shown by Enjoy Lavec and Self Possessed when the former won in three heats in 1999? Or when Andover Hall showed the same grit in his 2002 triumph?

I played a bit role in the three-heat race in 1997. Malabar Man had won the first heat easily and then Lord Stormont trotted past him to take the second heat, ignoring a lost shoe. Before the race-off, trainer Norm Jones had searched for Lord Stormont’s shoe without success. I casually mentioned to him that I’d seen a bar shoe on the outside of the track about a hundred yards up from the wire.

Jones took off from the Du Quoin paddock like an Olympic sprinter, vaulted the outside fence, found the shoe, and had it nailed back on. Then Lord Stormont simply went out and trotted a final quarter in :25.4 to win the race-off.

Yes, there has been a lot of drama in the WTD, and a lot of speed. Remember, the fastest trotting mile in history occurred in the WTD in 2004 when Tom Ridge sailed effortlessly to a 1:50.2 clocking.

Would anyone be surprised if the sport’s first sub-1:50 trotting mile came in the World Trotting Derby, perhaps even this year? I surely wouldn’t be.