american winner
Bred and owned by John Glesmann and Robert Key, world champion trotter American Winner was foaled on March 28, 1990 in Union Bridge, Maryland. Developed by Per Eriksson and trained by Steven Bush and then Milton Smith, American Winner was driven primarily by Ron Pierce.
As a three-year-old in 1993, American Winner won the Yonkers Trot in 1:56.2h, a stakes record. He had a nine-race win streak before he was a game second to Pine Chip in the Beacon Course Trot. He reversed the tables in the Hambletonian, winning convincingly. He won his elimination in 1:53.1, fastest mile at that time in Hambletonian history and won the final in 1:53.2, setting a new two-heat world record of 3:46.3. American Winner set his lifetime mark of 1:52.3 winning the Zweig Memorial at Syracuse just fifteen days after his Hambletonian victory. American Winner finished his racing career with 16 wins in 27 starts and $1,302,451 in earnings.
As a stallion, American Winner made a huge mark on the trotting breed through his daughter Yankee Blondie, who produced 2009 Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Muscle Hill, and also through his sons, Hall of Famer Credit Winner and Viking Kronos and their offspring.
Credit Winner won the Kentucky Futurity and finished second in the Hambletonian but made a bigger name for himself as a stallion, with six million-dollar winners as a sire and daughters who produced millionaires Resolve, Cruzado Dela Noche, Bar Hopping and Ready For Moni.
In Europe, American Winner’s influence is throughout the trotting world thanks to his son Viking Kronos, who earned acclaim for beating Varenne before standing at stud. A son of royal parentage as his dam was Hambletonian Oaks champion Conch, Viking Kronos became one of Europe’s most significant sires in modern times. His offspring include Prix d’Amerique champion Maharajah, now the leading sire in Sweden; Lantern Kronos, a million-dollar winner and runner-up in the Hambletonian Oaks; and Caddie Dream, the dam of 2018 Prix d’Amerique winner Readly Express, a highly successful international stallion.
As a broodmare sire, American Winner’s daughters have thus far produced the winners of more than $70.4 million, a figure which includes six million-dollar winners, among them the $2 million-plus winners Muscle Hill, Sand Vic and Maven. American Winner’s daughter Exquisite Amanda is the dam of the prolific mare Solveig, whose offspring have earned more than $5 million and include the great $2.7 million stakes winner Shake It Cerry.
American Winner’s sire, Super Bowl, and dam, BJ’s Pleasure, are both members of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame. American Winner died in July 2018 at the age of 28.