Super Bowl - 1972
Although it took Stanley Dancer quite a few tries to win his first Hambletonian, Dancer trained and drove Super Bowl to two perfect victories in 1:572 , and 1:562 , the latter a new world standard for three-year- old trotters in 1972. Super Bowl was the eighth winner for his sire, Star’s Pride, in 12 years, adding to the luster of his great sire’s accomplishments in this most famous trotting race. Super Bowl’s chief rival was the gifted Delmonica Hanover, a filly handled by the veteran Delvin Miller. Delmonica was second in both heats and trotted miles that would have been world filly marks in chasing Super Bowl. But she never really bothered the winner in each heat. Super Bowl and Dancer were simply the best. The Bill Haughton stable entry of Flush and Spartan Hanover traded a pair of thirds with The Black Streak fourth in each heat. It was a predictable end to this Hambletonian, and a "super" victory for Super Bowl, who won all three legs of the Triple Crown in 1972, the last trotter to do so.
Super Bowl was the sixth horse to win the Triple Crown of Trotting and the last to do it before Winsong's Legacy in 2004. His second and final heat was in a world record 1:56 4/5; the first 3-year-old mile under 1:57. Star's Pride sired his record eighth Hambletonian winner. His stallion record was something of a redemption. Star's Pride, the pre-race favorite in the 1952 Hambletonian, finished 2nd (2-2) to Lusty Song. One of the commentaries that year noted he was following in family tradition: his sire Worthy Boy was 2nd (2-2) in 1929 to Walter Dear; and Worthy Boy's dam Warwell Worthy was 2nd (7-2) in 1935 to Greyhound. Super Bowl is the Hambletonian winner that has subsequently sired the most winners (6). Super Bowl's caretaker, John Barker, ws married the night before the Hambletonian on the stage next to the race track in front of the grandstand. His bride Peggy was a caretaker for the Bill Haughton Stable. Stanley Dancer stood up for Barker, while Bill Haughton "gave away" the bride. Barker is now track superintendent for the Little Brown Jug. Super Bowl was voted Trotter of the Year. The filly Delmonica Hanover was second in both heats, timed in 1:57 flat in the second dash, three-fifths of a second faster than the existing world record race mile for a filly or mare (Fresh Yankee, 1:57 3/5). She is the dame of 1989 co-winner Park Avenue Joe. Probably the longest shot ever in the Hambletonian was Axystar, who "prepped" for his stakes debut in three overnight races at the Michigan fairs. He had a grand total of $77 to his credit when his owner Dr. Anderson Arbury, a retired orthodontist from the state, drove him. True to form, Axystar was well back at the start of the two heats, and maintained that posistion, finishing last in both heats (7-7). However, Dr. Arbury got to tell his grandchildren that he drove in the Hambletonian.
