walter dear
Trotter Walter Dear was one of the most dominant horses of his generation, driven by one of the best trainers of his era. He was bred and owned by Hall of Fame Immortal William H. Cane and his Good Time Stable in Goshen, New York. Walter Dear was trained and driven by Immortal Walter Cox.
After a successful freshman season, Walter Dear would go undefeated as a three-year-old. One week after his straight-heats victory in the 1929 Kentucky Futurity, Walter Dear would repeat the effort in the fourth Hambletonian Stake, also held in Lexington that year. Driven by Cox, Walter Dear beat Good Time stablemate Immortal Volomite, who placed in both heats. The time of 4:05 was the fastest two heats ever raced in the event, both in 2:02 3/4, within a quarter-second of the stake record set by Immortal Spencer the previous year.
Two months later, William Cane would sell three-year-old Walter Dear for $25,000 to Charlie Mills, an eccentric but highly esteemed trainer and driver who lived in a castle in Germany. It was the largest purchase price ever by a European trainer for an American-bred horse up to that time. Walter Dear would continue his torrid racing career in Europe, becoming one of the continent's top Standardbreds. In 1934, he captured the Prix d'Amerique, perhaps the most prestigious harness race in the world. To this day Walter Dear is the only horse to have won both the Prix d'Amerique and Hambletonian. He went on to stand stud for Mills in Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.
Walter Dear disappeared amidst the rubble and chaos that followed the last days of the Third Reich at the end of World War II. Charlie Mills escaped the devastation and went on to find success after the war, but to this day Walter Dear is the only Hambletonian winner whose fate remains unknown.