Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Personality of the Month
for April 2009

George Hempt

George Hempt was a Pennsylvania Standardbred breeder and owner who founded Hempt Farms, maintaining the family tradition after his father's passing of naming and racing all his horses with the "Keystone" moniker.

He was born September 17, 1943, to Martha Dapp and the late Max C. Hempt, a member of the harness racing Hall of Fame.

Hempt attended Shippensburg State College and was a member of the notorious West Shore Think Tank and Reciprocity Club.. In his spare time, Hempt enjoyed golf, polo, snowmobiling and trap shooting.

George Hempt

At a young age, Hempt became involved with his family’s business, Hempt Bros. Inc., a heavy highway contractor and manufacturer of heavy highway materials such as concrete, asphalt, crushed stone and sand. The business was started by Hempt’s grandfather and great uncle in 1925. Hempt started in the shop and worked his way up through the company until he became president.

Throughout his lifetime he owned more than 800 horses in his 40-plus years in the sport and was also instrumental in many harness racing organizations.

George's grandfather had a successful racing stable in the 1930s and 40s with his top horse being Follow Me, the dam of Stenographer, the 1954 Horse of the Year in the US. Stenographer became a foundation mare for the farm, producing Keystone Spartan and Keystone Selene, another foundation matron. The farm is also responsible for former Horse of the Year Keystone Ore and millionaire Keystone Pioneer and many more. In addition to breeding and selling countless yearlings over the years, the Hempt family has raced many top performers including two Hambletonian winners Harlan Dean and Speed Bown.

Stenographer
In 2007 and 2008 George followed Keystone Horatio's career with enthusiasm, traveling to Ontario to watch the Ontario-sired colt compete in such events as the North America Cup.

John Kopas trained Hempt's horses in Canada. Keystone Horatio earned $1,033,578 as a 2 and 3 year old and took a mark of 1:50.2 in 2008. John Kopas trained Keystone Horatio and many other horses for Hempt.

"During the last year or so he would be in Ontario three or four days a week," said Kopas. "He was always at the barn in the morning and he was very good to my staff."

Hempt's son, Max J., serves on the board of the Hambletonian Society and has been active in the sport, attending races and sales with his father.

Hempt was President and Chairman of the Board of Hempt Bros., Inc.; Chairman of the M.S. Polo Benefit; member of Central PA Sports Hall of Fame; Board Member of the Standardbred Breeders Association; and Past President of Penn National Horsemen's Association. He was also a member of Masonic Lodge #681 F&AM, Shriners Mounted Patrol, Jesters, and Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, of Camp Hill, Penn.

George Hempt passed away on March 13, 2009 at age 65.