presidential ball
Bred by George Avakian, Elsa K. Goldstein and Mark A. Berlin, world champion pacer Presidential Ball was foaled on March 20, 1990 at Heritage Hill Farm in Allentown, New Jersey. He was purchased at the 1991 Kentucky Standardbred Yearling Sale for $75,000 by Canadian Antonio Chiaravalle.
Presidential Ball raced in 1992-1993, winning 26 out of 38 lifetime starts, while amassing more than $3 million in career earnings. At the time of his retirement, he was the third-leading moneywinning pacer of all time. He was driven primarily by Jack Moiseyev and Ron Waples.
In his freshman season, Presidential Ball finished on the board in 12 of 13 starts with 9 victories, including the Lawrence B. Sheppard Pace, Garden State Stake, Nassagaweya, Metro and the Niatross. He earned $799,197 that year and was voted Dan Patch and O’Brien Two-Year-Old Colt Pacer of the Year.
Presidential Ball’s three-year-old season included victories in the $1 million North America Cup and $1 million Meadowlands Pace, as well as the New Jersey Classic, Windy City Pace, William E. Miller, Provincial Cup (equaling the track and stakes record), Burlington, Simcoe Stakes and New Jersey Sire Stakes final. Presidential Ball completed his sophomore campaign with 17 wins out of 25 starts and purse winnings totaling $2,222,166. That year he claimed the titles of leading moneywinning pacer, leading single-season moneywinning Standardbred of all time and New Jersey Standardbred of the Year, and was honored as 1993 Three-Year-Old Colt Pacer of the Year in both the U.S. and Canada.
As a stallion, Presidential Ball’s North American offspring earned over $60 million and three topped the million-dollar mark: Bigtime Ball p,5,1:48.2s ($1,558,519), Cathedra Dot Com p,3,1:51 ($1,520,487) and Allamerican Native p,3,1:49.4 ($1,296,304).
Presidential Ball passed away in January 2023 at the age of 33.