Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Nihilator-20 Years Later

July 11, 2005

Nihilator was about to become the first ever sub 1:50 pacer in a race in the sports history. He would do so on the first Saturday in August 1985, pacing in 1:49.3---but first he had Meadowlands Pace, the 9th edition. Nihilator came from the highly anticpated first crop of Niatross, the 1980 Pace winner.

In that year's Pace, Nihilator took over near the half in 56.3, and then proceeded to barrel home in 54 seconds FLAT-back to back 27 quarters, on the sports grandest stage with the sports first $10 million man driving-Bill O'Donnell. It was a new Pace record, it was the biggest margin in Pace history- 7 and 1/2 lengths, and it firmly cemented his rightful spot as the 1985 overwhelming choice for Horse of The Year. On a sadder note, it would be the final Pace for Billy Haughton, the trainer of Nihilator. If there's any consolation, he went out with his second Pace win and very likely the single greatest horse he ever trained.

The Purse of $1,018,000 was just slightly more than the money in the show pool--as the five-horse entry headed by Nihilator attracted the largest 'bridge-jumper' scenario in the history of the Meadowlands. Over $891,000 was bet to show, and the entry finished 1-3-4-5-6. Nihilator had won the Woodrow Wilson the year before, for a $2,161,000 pot--the richest race ever held. That means that Nihilator made more money---$1,589,500---in just million dollar races than any horse ever. He also never lost a race at the Meadowlands---he was 12-12---and it should be noted that 1985, when Nihilator last raced at the Meadowlands, was the year that Tuff Choice set the standard of 13 straight.