malabar man
On March 1, 1994 Malvern Burroughs’ life was changed forever when a Supergill colt was foaled on his farm in Flemington, NJ. The first horse to ever be foaled on the farm, he was named for Mal and his wife, Barbara, by combining the first syllables of their names to form “Malabar.” Malabar Man was sent to Jimmy Takter in December 1995 and immediately impressed this seasoned trainer. Takter told Hoof Beats: “He’s just a perfect horse…He’s unique. I’ve never been around another horse like him.” That winter both Burroughs and Malabar Man suffered from poor health and were nearly taken from the sport. While Malabar Man was plagued by illness and forced to delay most of his training, Burroughs experienced a major heart attack and almost didn’t recover. However, following specialized care, and surgery in Burroughs’ case, both man and horse returned to the sport in the spring of 1996.
Due to the training Malabar Man missed during his illness, Burroughs and Takter raced him at the New Jersey fairs to avoid the strain of a more rigorous stake schedule. However, after winning his first 6 starts, Burroughs decided to take Malabar Man to Mohawk Raceway in early September for the Champlain Stakes. An upset on the track almost sent Burroughs off his bike but rather than frighten the horse, it gave Malabar Man a new burst of energy to finish fourth and place third. From there he went on to win a Campbellville division the following week and three more New Jersey victories within the next month, including the Harold Dancer Memorial and the New Jersey Fair Stake final. In mid-October Malabar Man and Burroughs gained more notoriety by winning the two-year-old colt division of the Breeders Crown. Not only did Malabar Man take the race with an injured foot, he also became the first horse to win a Breeders Crown driven by an amateur driver. He closed the season with a 15-13-1-1 record and a total of $464,041 in earnings. Malabar Man also won the title of Two-Year-Old Trotting Colt by a landslide, receiving 185 votes to Yankee Glide’s 29.
Malabar Man’s began the 1997 season with a winning streak that lasted through June and July, taking six races all timed between 1:54.2 and 1:56.2, including the Budweiser Beacon Course and a Hambletonian elimination. He could not have been in a better position coming into the Hambletonian final and fans were pleased, but not surprised, when the favorite trotted to victory in 1:55. With this win he became only the second horse in the history of the race to be driven to victory by an amateur driver, the first being Demon Hanover driver by Harrison Hoyt in 1948. Following the Hambletonian, Malabar Man won the American-National at Sportsman’s Parkon, took his best time, 1:53.1, in an elimination of the World Trotting Derby in Duquoin, won a division of the Bluegrass at The Red Mile, took another Breeders Crown at Mohawk Raceway and triumphed at the Orsi Mangelli in Milan. He closed the season with a 16-13-3-0 record and a total of $1,679,862 in earnings, the highest single season total earned by a male trotter in North America - a record held until 2003. An obvious favorite, he was voted Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the year with 246 votes to Lord Stormont’s 9; Trotter of the Year with 238 votes to Lord Stormont and No Nonsense Woman’s 4 each; and Horse of the Year with 193 votes to Western Dreamer’s 42. He also was awarded with the title of 1997 NJ Standardbred of the Year.
Following his sophomore season, Malabar Man retired from racing and was sent to stand stud at Perretti Farms in Cream Ridge, NJ. His early success was recognized when he became the 2001 Leading First-Crop Sire, his progeny amassing a season total of nearly $1.8 million. Since 1998, he has sired a total of 474 registered foals, 238 in 2:00 and 31 in 1:55, with 73 $100,000 winners and collective earning over $26 million. Outstanding performers include Power To Charm 3,1:53.1 ($664,880), fastest three-year-old colt trotter in 2003; Breeders Crown two-year-old filly trot winners Flirtin Miss 3,1:55 ($486,950) and Pick Me Up 2,1:57.1 ($380,050), Merrie Annabelle winner Reinvent 3,1:56 ($386,007) and NJSS Champions Funny Malentine 3,1:54s ($330,140) and Malabar Maple 3,1:53.2 ($483,107). He is also the grandsire of Possess The Magic 3,1:53.2 ($1.044 million), winner of the 2006 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Trot. In 2004 Malabar Man was moved to Walden, New York’s Winbak Farm. He died in 2011.