tall dark stranger
2020 Horse of the Year Tall Dark Stranger was bred by James L. Avritt Sr., and was foaled on March 12, 2017 at Lebanon, Kentucky. Owned by Crawford Farms Racing, Marvin Katz, Caviart Farms and Howard A. Taylor during his racing career, Tall Dark Stranger was trained by Nancy Takter and driven by Yannick Gingras.
Tall Dark Stranger raced for two seasons in 2019-2020, winning 19 of 22 starts and earning more than $2 million.
As a two-year-old in 2019, Tall Dark Stranger won 8 of 9 starts (first 7 races in a row) and was the third-leading moneywinning two-year-old pacer with $717,514 in earnings. Major victories included the Breeders Crown, Metro Pace and International Stallion Stakes. Tall Dark Stranger was voted Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year in both the United States and Canada.
In 2020, three-year-old Tall Dark Stranger finished on the board in 12 of his 13 starts, with 11 victories and earnings of $1,302,681 – the only Standardbred to break the million-dollar mark during the pandemic year. Major wins included the North America Cup, Meadowlands Pace, Cane Pace (in a stakes record 1:47.1), Kentucky Sire Stakes final and Tattersalls Pace. He is the only horse to win the Metro Pace and Breeders Crown at two, and the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace at three. Tall Dark Stranger was voted 2020 Dan Patch Horse of the Year, Pacer of the Year and Three-Year-Old Pacer of the Year.
Tall Dark Stranger is currently owned by Tall Dark Stranger Syndicate.