Hall of Fame

Fan Hanover was one of harness racing's most outstanding female competitors. A multiple world champion, her 45 career victories were accomplished from ages two through four. She retired as the fastest and richest pacing mare in history, and her time trial of 1:50.4 was the fastest mile ever by a filly or mare.

At two, Fan Hanover won 16 of 19 starts. She set a world record for fillies on a five-eighths mile track and was voted 1980 Canadian Horse of the Year. Her wins included the Matron Stake, Hanover Filly Stake and Blue Bonnets Grand Circuit Stake.

As a three-year-old, Fan Hanover showed her true greatness by winning 17 of 23 starts. In the 1981 Little Brown Jug she defeated her male counterparts to become the only filly ever to win that prominent race. She also set or equalled world records on five-eighths and half-mile tracks. Other victories included the Tarport Hap Stake, Matron Stake, Lady Maud Stake and Bronx Filly Stake. Fan Hanover was voted 1981 Horse of the Year, the only pacing filly to be awarded that honor since balloting began in 1947.

Returning to the races at four, Fan Hanover became a free-for-all star, winning the Roses Are Red Stake, Mohawk Gold Cup and the Milton Stake.

Voted 1982 Aged Pacing Mare of the Year, Fan Hanover is the dam of 4 in 2:00, 2 in 1:55 and 1 in 1:52.

Fan Hanover was inducted into the Living Horse Hall of Fame in 2000. She died on August 23, 2011 at Inglewood, Ontario.

Revised version first published in the Harness Racing Museum's 2000 Souvenir Journal