{{short description|Harness stakes race for 3-year-old trotters}} {{Infobox horseraces | class = | horse race = The Colonial | image = | caption = | location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. (inaugural) | inaugurated = 1968 | race type = Harness race for standardbred trotters | website = | distance = 1 mile | surface = Dirt | track = Liberty Bell Park Racetrack (inaugural) | qualification = 3-year-olds | weight = | purse = | bonuses = }}
The '''Colonial Trot''' was a harness racing event for three-year-old standardbred trotters raced at a distance of one mile. The race was created in 1968, joining the Dexter Cup, the Yonkers Trot, the Hambletonian, and the Kentucky Futurity to form the "Big Five" races for three-year-old trotters.
==History== Edward J. Dougherty, then president of Liberty Bell Park Racetrack, organized '''The Colonial''', the track's first $100,000 race. The event was created after the track in Philadelphia failed to secure the Hambletonian Stakes in the mid-1960s.<ref name="The Times. (1968)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1193073446/?match=1&terms=colonial%20trot%20hambletonian%20society|title=Bell's Biggest Race Ever, The Colonial, On Sept. 14|newspaper=The Times|date=September 6, 1968|page=26|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref>
The Colonial Trot, a one-mile race for three-year-olds, was staged for the first time on September 14, 1968. The Colonials' debut marked a significant addition to Philadelphia's sports schedule.<ref name="The Philadelphia Inquirer. (1968)"/> Co-sponsored by the Liberty Bell and William Penn Associations,<ref name="The Times. (1969)"/> it was the newest among the nine $100,000 harness races in the United States. The inaugural Colonial Trot featured Dart Hanover, Eric B., Nevele Pride, Master Yankee, Jostle, Keystone Spartan, and Snow Speed. The seven three-year-old trotters raced for a purse distribution of $50,000, $25,000, $12,000, $8,000, and $5,000 for the top five finishers.<ref name="The Philadelphia Inquirer. (1968)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/179842002/?match=1&terms=Colonial%20Trot|title=Six Battle for 2d Place at Liberty Bell|last=Chevalier|first=Jack|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=September 14, 1968|page=23|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref> Stanley Dancer piloted Nevele Pride to victory in the 1968 event. The Colonial's first record was set at 1:59 by Nevele Pride.<ref name="The Times. (1969)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1194737071/?match=1&terms=Colonial%20Trot|title=Liberty Bell's 2d Colonial Could Be 'Battle Of Dancers'|last=Thomas|first=Russ|newspaper=The Times|date=September 7, 1969|page=53|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref>
When Philadelphia's Liberty Bell Park Racetrack went out of business in 1985, the 1986 Colonial Trot was carried over to Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland.<ref name="The Baltimore Sun. (1986)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/378170336/?match=1&terms=Colonial%20Trot|title=Rosecroft holds Colonial Trot|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=October 18, 1986|page=19|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref> The Colonial became a stakes event under the Hambletonian Society and was considered the first step toward the Hambletonian Stakes.<ref name="The Boston Globe. (1995)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/440837780/?match=1&terms=Colonial%20Trot|title=Trotters not so hot at Foxboro|last=Indrisano|first=Ron|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=April 24, 1995|page=50|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref>
Following Rosecraft Raceway's withdrawal due to financial difficulties, Foxboro Park paid $50,000 to host the 28th running of the event. The five-eighths-of-a-mile oval was selected by the Hambletonian Society over Hoosier Park, The Meadows, Pocono, and Meadowlands.<ref name="The Boston Globe. (1995) 3">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/440837823/?match=1&terms=Colonial%20Trot|title=Foxboro about to trot out 18 of nation's best|last=Indrisano|first=Ron|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=April 20, 1995|page=51|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref> Foxboro Park presented The Colonial on April 22, 1995.<ref name="The Boston Globe. (1995) 2">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/440841452/?match=1&terms=Colonial%20Trot|title=Foxboro to host Colonial Trot|last=Kinsley|first=Bob|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=April 1, 1995|page=78|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref> From 1996 onward, it was relocated to Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
The Colonial was resumed in 2007 at Harrah's Philadelphia after a three-year hiatus.<ref name="Standardbred Canada. (2011)">{{cite web|url=https://standardbredcanada.ca/news/8-19-11/can-broad-bahn-break-colonial-jinx.html|title=Can Broad Bahn Break Colonial Jinx?|date=August 19, 2011|website=standardbredcanada.ca|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref> Ahead of the 2013 season, the stakes event was moved from Harrah's Philadelphia to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, with the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen's Association instituting a year-to-year alternation between the two tracks.<ref name="Standardbred Canada. (2013)">{{cite web|url=https://standardbredcanada.ca/news/1-4-13/pocono-adds-three-stakes-2013.html|title=Pocono Adds Three Stakes For 2013|date=January 4, 2013|website=standardbredcanada.ca|access-date=2026-03-25}}</ref>
==Distances== At its inception in 1968, the Colonial Trot was raced over a distance of one mile.
==Locations== *1968–1985: Liberty Bell Park Racetrack, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. *1985–1994: Rosecroft Raceway, Fort Washington, Maryland, U.S. *1995: Foxboro Park, Foxborough, Massachusetts, U.S. *1996–2004: Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, Ontario, Canada *2007-2012: Harrah's Philadelphia, Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. *2013-: Pocono Downs, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.
==Records== ; Most wins by a driver: * 3 – Stanley Dancer (1968, 1972, 1985)<ref name="Lexington Herald-Leader. (1985)">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/688402194/?match=1&terms=Colonial%20Trot|title=Nevele Jason wins Ben White Stake|newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader|date=June 16, 1985|page=132|access-date=2026-03-24}}</ref>
==Colonial Trot winners== {| class="wikitable" ! Year !! Winner !! Driver !! Trainer !! Owner !! Time !! Notes |- | 1968 || Nevele Pride || Stanley Dancer || — || — || 1:59 || Stakes and world record; $50,803 |- | 1969 || Lindy's Pride || Howard Beissinger || Howard Beissinger || Frank and Tom Antonacci (Lindy Farms) || 2:00 2/5 || $50,835 |- | 1970 || Timothy T. Tops || John F. Simpson Jr. || — || John F. Simpson Sr. || 2:03 1/5 || — |- | 1971 || Speedy Crown || Howard Beissinger || Howard Beissinger || Frank and Tom Antonacci || — || — |- | 1972 || Super Bowl || Stanley Dancer || — || — || — || — |- | 1973 || Flirth || Ralph N. Baldwin || Ralph N. Baldwin || — || 2:01 2/5 || $51,747 |- | 1974 || Keystone Gabriel || Peter Haughton || — || — || 2:01.3 || — |- | 1975 || Meadow Bright || Del Miller || Del Miller || Del Miller (Hanover Shoe Farms) || 2:02 || First filly to win |- | 1976 || Armbro Regina || Joe O'Brien || — || Armstrong Brothers || 2:00.4 || $63,382 |- | 1977 || Green Speed || Billy Haughton || — || — || 1:58 4/5 || Stakes record |- | 1978 || Florida Pro || George Sholty || — || — || 1:58.2 || Stakes record; $56,675 |- | 1979 || Chiola Hanover || Jimmy Allen || — || — || 2:02 1/5 || — |- | 1980 || Noble Hustle || Doug Ackerman || — || — || 2:00.1 || $46,109 |- | 1981 || Keystone Triton || Eldon Harner || — || Max Buran & Abe Farber || 2:01 || $66,182 |- | 1982 || Jazz Cosmos || Mickey McNichol || — || — || 1:58.1 || $48,219 |- | 1983 || Power Seat || Bill O'Donnell || — || Angelo & Orante C. Roncone || 1:59.1 || $75,000 |- | 1984 || Why Not || Mickey McNichol || Joe Caraluzzi || — || 1:59 1/5 || — |- | 1985 || Piggvar || Stanley Dancer || — || — || 1:58.0 || Track record; $38,077 |- | 1986 || Everglade Hanover || Hakan Wallner || Hakan Wallner || — || — || — |- | 1987 || Mack Lobell || John Campbell || — || — || — || — |- | 1990 || Jeanne's Somolli || Rod Allen || Carl Allen || L. Walter Houston || 1:56.4 || — |- | 1991 || Mr Chin || — || Oswaldo Formia || — || 1:54.4 || — |- | 1992 || Herschel Walker || — || Jan Johnson || Tomas Bertmark || 1:58.3 || — |- | 1993 || GEO Hanover || Per Henricksen || — || — || 1:58.2 || — |- | 1994 || Keystone Graham || Ron Pierce || — || — || 2:00.3 || — |- | 1995 || Keystone Galactic || Roger Hammer || Roger Hammer || Roger Hammer || 1:58.2 || — |- | 1996 || Tony Oaks || John Eades || John Eades || Antonio DeRossi || — || — |- | 1997 || Famously || Brian Allen || Jim Cruise Jr. || — || 1:56.4 || — |- | 1998 || Brylin Image || John Holmes || — || — || 1:57 1/5 || — |- | 1998 || Exactitude || Trevor Ritchie || — || — || 1:57 1/5 || — |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Harness races in the United States Category:Harness races for three-year-old trotters Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1968 Category:1968 establishments in Pennsylvania