Su Mac Lad (c. 1954 – September 19, 1982) was an American

gelding A gelding is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven horse behavior, behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer a ...

trotter. He reached the peak of his racing career in the 1960s. In 1962, he was harness racing's career money leader and named United States Harness Horse of the Year. He won the

International Trot The International Trot is a harness racing event held in the New York City area that aimed to appeal to a mix of United States and international entrants. The inaugural event was held at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York in 1959, and was hel ...

held at

Roosevelt Raceway Roosevelt Raceway was a race track located just outside the village of Westbury on Long Island, New York. Initially created as a venue for motor racing, it was converted to a ½-mile harness racing facility (the actual circumference was 100 fe ...

in both 1961 and 1963, and was recognized in both of those years as trotter of year. Su Mac Lad was owned by I. W. Berkemeyer of

New Milford, New Jersey New Milford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 16,341,Stanley Dancer Stanley Franklin Dancer (July 25, 1927 – September 9, 2005) was an American harness racing driver and trainer. He was the only horseman to drive and train three Triple Crowns in horse racing. In total, he drove 23 Triple Crown winners. He ...

.via ''

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''
"SPORTS NEWS BRIEFS; Su Mac Lad Dies; Trotter Was 28"
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'', September 20, 1982. Accessed February 17, 2009. Su Mac Lad had a distinct lack of classical horseracing pedigree, having been born on a nondescript farm owned by Mrs. Paul Davis, a breeder in Henderson, Illinois. He was sold as a two-year-old for $750 and was purchased by Berkemeyer in 1959 for $35,000. In a six-horse field at the 1961 International Trot, Su Mac Lad, driven by Dancer, finished in a time of 2:34.4 in driving rain and a sloppy track in front of 28,105 racing fans, with the French horse Kracovie in second by what ''

'' called "the smallest of noses" with Canadian horse

Tie Silk Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * Ti ...

in third.Effrat, Louis
"KRACOVIE SECOND IN $50,000 TROT; Su Mac Lad of U.S. Victor in International Race -- Tie Silk Takes Third SU MAC LAD WINS BY NOSE IN TROT"
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'', July 16, 1961. Accessed February 15, 2009. The victory made Su Mac Lad the first American horse to take the title. This was the third annual running of the race, described as having "blossomed into one of the world's blue-ribbon harness racing events". In the first American sweep in the series, the lightly regarded Tie Silk, who had finished in third the previous year and sixth the year before, won the $50,000 race in front of a crowd of 53,279. Six-year-old Tie Silk, driven by

Keith Waples Keith Gordon Waples (December 8, 1923 – May 7, 2021) was a Canadian Hall of Fame sulky driver and horse trainer in the sport of harness racing. In 1959, Waples became the first driver to record a sub two-minute mile in Canada and the first to ...

, won in a time of 2:34.2, with favorite and returning winner Su Mac Lad in second and world record holder Porterhouse in third. Su Mac Lad, returned to win the 1963 running of the International Trot in a seven-horse field, before a crowd of 41,197. Driven by Stanley Dancer, Su Mac Lad paid bettors $2.90 to win in tying a world record at the 1¼-mile distance with a time of 2:32.6. The 9-to-20 favorite came in a half-length ahead of Martini II who in turn beat Tie Silk by 7½ lengths. The $25,000 Su Mac Lad took home brought his career winnings to $687,549, the most of any pacer or trotter as of that date. At the time of his retirement in 1965, Su Mac Lad was the sport's leading career money earner with $885,695 brought in during a total of 151 races, with the horse winning 68 times, coming in second on 32 occasions and taking third 18 times. In 1988 Su Mac Lad was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame.Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame bio for Su Mac Lad
Retrieved November 16, 2016 Su Mac Lad died at age 28 on September 19, 1982, at

Stanley Dancer Stanley Franklin Dancer (July 25, 1927 – September 9, 2005) was an American harness racing driver and trainer. He was the only horseman to drive and train three Triple Crowns in horse racing. In total, he drove 23 Triple Crown winners. He ...

's farm where he resided following his retirement from professional racing.

References

{{Reflist 1954 racehorse births 1982 racehorse deaths American Standardbred racehorses American Champion harness horses Harness Horse of the Year winners United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees