Scott Frost - 1955
Seldom has there been as much of a solid favorite for the Hambletonian as Scott Frost. Joe O’Brien’s star pupil, owned by S. A. Camp of Shafter, California, lived up to his billing in the Hambletonian tuneups. The son of Hoot Mon and Nora was unbeaten in his three-year-old form when he paraded to post for the Hambletonian. His first race had taken four heats at Historic Track. Trainer O’Brien, always known for his guarded pessimism, was far from happy about the prospects on race day. The brilliant colt had worked poorly in his final prep and the condition of the track just didn’t suit the long striding favorite. The first favorite to win since Demon Hanover in 1948, Scott Frost forged home in 2:013 and back in 2:003. Only his sire, Hoot Mon had trotted faster (2:00) to that point. The two heat total was the best on record for the event, displacing the 2:01½-2:01¾ duet set by Shirley Hanover. In the first heat, stablemate Butch Hanover shoved his head past Scott Frost at the third pole, but Scott Frost turned for home on top. It looked like a breeze until the last sixteenth when John Simpson fired up Leopold Hanover for a sizzling sprint, forcing Joe O’Brien to shake his colt up to win by half a length. The second mile, Scott Frost had the lead at the three-quarters. Billy Haughton behind Galophone made his bid an eighth from home and the pair engaged in a head and head duel. Fifty feet out it looked as if Galophone might snatch the decision but Scott Frost hung on and won by a head. Scott Frost’s dam, Nora, was purchased by Roy Amos of Frost Hill Farm, Edinburg, Indiana at the W. N. Reynolds dispersal sale at Harrisburg. Scott Frost was foaled on his property and raised at the Hoosier farm. An all-time great, Scott Frost followed up on his Hambletonian win with victories in the Yonkers Futurity and the Kentucky Futurity. Back on his home ground in California, the bay colt blazed to a 1:592 triumph over the best aged trotters. Not only did Scott Frost win more money than any other horse in a single season, the Camp headliner took over the leading money winning stallion title. Only the first four finishers received checks (60% - 25% - 10% - 5%)
A winner of 23 of 28 starts at three, Hambletonian day was one of the few times that Scott Frost did not dominate his peers. After winning a tough three-heat stake at Vernon Downs that concluded at midnight just five days before the Hambletonian, Scott Frost was tested to the limit in the straight heats, first by Leopold Hanover and then by Galophone. Accounts of both heats give much of the credit to O’Brien’s reinsmanship. O’Brien modestly attributed the victory to courage on the part of his trotter. Scott Frost captured the first Triple Crown of Trotting in its initial year when he won the Kentucky Futurity and the very first edition of the Yonkers Trot. The publicity department of Yonkers apparently first applied the "Triple Crown" designation. It appeared in their year-end wrap up in the trades and was included the following year in the 1956 U.S.T.A. Trotting & Pacing Guide. The first three-year-old trotter to record more than one 2:00 mile (3), Scott Frost was selected Horse of the Year by the harness writers.
