Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Personality of the Month
for February 2010

Alden Goldsmith

Breeder and racehorse owner Alden Goldsmith was the proprietor of Walnut Grove Farm, and was born December 4, 1820 in Blooming Grove, NY. He is best known for his development of the famous Volunteer (Hambletonian 10 – Lady Patriot – Young Patriot) and Goldsmith Maid (Abdallah 15 – Old Ab – Abdallah 1)--both Immortal members of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame.

He purchased Volunteer as an eight-year-old from R.C. Underhill of Brooklyn, NY, in 1862. In the nineteen years that the stallion stood at Walnut Grove, he sired more than thirty 2:30 performers, including Immortal St. Julien 2:11¼ , Gloster 2:17, Alley 2:19 and Bodine 2:19¼.

Goldsmith’s skill as a breeder greatly improved this great trotting bloodline by more than tripling its production of 2:30 performers when comparing Hambletonian (2%) to Volunteer (6.2%). He passed these skills on to his sons, James and John A., which eventually brought John A. the honor of being inducted into harness racing's Hall of Fame in 1959.

Currier and Ives lithograph print by artist John Cameron (1830-1876) of famous trotters Goldsmith Maid and Judge Fullerton at the East Saginaw Driving Park (Michigan) on July 16, 1874.

In 1865 Goldsmith purchased his next great horse from John B. Decker of Deckertown, NJ, for $650. He named the eight-year-old, unbroken mare Goldsmith Maid. Goldsmith trained her and brought her to her first race in Goshen, NY, on September 7, 1865 which she won easily. Three years later he sold her for $20,000 to a syndicate which included famous driver Budd Doble.

Goldsmith Maid went on to become a sensation on the track, winning over 350 heats and 92 of her 123 starts and lowering the world trotting mile seven times before attaining her record of 2:14 in 1874. She was called the "Queen of the Trotters" and had a harness racing career that spanned 13 years. Her last race was won at the age of 20 against a much younger horse named Rarus. She was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1953. She earned a total of $364,200 in her career, a record that would not be broken until the 1950s.

Goldsmith took an active role in the early administration of the sport, serving as a prominent figure within the Turf Congress and the National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders and assisting with the organization of The National Trotting Association.

In 1886 Goldsmith and his partner Edward Thorne leased the Hudson River Driving Park at Poughkeepsie, New York, in order to hold non-wagering races. However, the venture did not go well and Goldsmith and Thorne lost a great deal of their investment.

Goldsmith passed away at his home in Washingtonville, NY, on December 20, 1886 at the age of sixty-six. In his obituary, the New York Times referred to him as “one of the most prominent trotting horse breeders of this country.”

On March 1 & 2, 1887 Goldsmith's hoses were sold at public auction by the Peter C Kellogg & Company at the American Horse Exchange in New York City.

Click Here to see a notice from the New York Times upon Goldsmith's passing and the sale of his horses.