Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Considered to be one of the top Standardbreds of al time, Niatross set a new standard in harness racing. The son of Albatross--trained by co-owner Clint Galbraith--was unbeaten in 13 starts in his two-year-old season, winning so impressively that he was named "Horse of the Year." He also brought home $604,900 for his connectins, pacing in 1:55.4 after winning such races as the Woodrow Wilson Pace, the Kentucky Pacing Derby, and the Internatinal Stallion Stakes, among others.

In 1980, Niatross won of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers the Cane, the Messenger, and the Little Bron Jug) and obliterated the world record by three full seconds, setting an astonishing mark of 1:49.1 at Lexington's "Red Mile." He aso won the Meadowlands Pace, the Prix d'Ete, the Reynolds Memorial, the Battle of Brandywine, the American Pacing Classic, the liver Wendell Holmes, the Gaines Memorial, the Hanover, the Dancer, the Batavia Colt Stakes, and the Hanover. That season he won $1,414,313, and wrapped up a successful sophomore season of 24 wins in 26 starts.

During his racing career, Niatross won 37 of 38 races and over $2 million in earnings.

Niatross' only two strange losses came in back-to-back starts. The first came at Saratoga, when the pacer mysteriously made a break in the stretch and flipped over the low hub-rail, only to emerge unscathed. In his next start, the elimination for the Meadowland's Pace, he made a break and barely came back to make it into the final, which he subsequently won.

Niatross has long been heralded as the horse that broke the 1:50 barrier, when he did in a Time Trial effot at the Red Mile, pacing in 1:49.1. for Galbraith.

When Niatross retired to stud at Castleton Farm in 1981, he did so as the richest Standardbred horse in history. He had been named Harness Horse of the Year in 1979 and 1980, the New York Post Athlete of the Year in 1980, and Harness Horse of the Decade for the 1980s.

Niatross was without question Albatross' most successful son. After spending two years in Kentucky at Castleton, Niatross was moved to Pine Hollow Stud in New York by the syndicate that owned him. That first crop of babies proved to be one of Niatross' best, as it produced Nihilator p, 3, 1:49.3 $3,225,653) and Pershing Square p, 3, 1:52.3 $812,277), while his second crop dropped standouts Barberry Spur p, 3, T1:50.2, $1.6 million and Masquerade p, 3, T1:53,$598,542, among others. The move to New York, however, proved to be nothing less than disasterous for the great pacer. He never again produced a major stakes-winning colt performer after the move. As it stood, ten of Niatross' 15 top money earners came from those first two crops.

In 1996, when he was 19 years old, Niatross made a 20-city tour for his fans in Canada and the United States, and one year later was inducted as a member of the Living Horse Hall of Fame.

In May of 1999 Niatross became ill and was transported to the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center where he was diagnosed with a large cancerous mass in his abdomen. He was later humanely destroyed.