My great grandmother always told me stories about Dan Patch and what a great horse he was. And whenever i saw a black horse when i was younger i would say, "look its Dan Patch!" not realizing that he had passed on a long time ago. My grandmother was privliged enough to actually get her picture taken with this magnificent horse and its great to have heard the stories about him. A true legend. (:
loved it you did a great job i have a horse who is the 10th grandson of Dan patch and is a carbon copy of him and is a Major part of my life this is amazing
Dear Horseyaddicted, thank you for this great tribute. Though he died before I was born, my grandfather was a harness driver and trainer, and drove a horse named Tom Patch, brother (I think) to Dan. I even drove harness ponies in Adrian, MI when I was in Jr. High. My grandfather's photos and loving cup trophy have just been accepted by The Harness Racing Museum and Hall Of Fame in New York. Makes me feel like a little piece of this history. Nice job!
Dan Patch lived 15 miles away from where I live. He lived in Oxford Indiana and that is still the only thing the people around that area ever talk about. Dan Patch Cafe and lots of other Dan Patch stuff. The owner of the barn even painted the words "Dan Patch, 1:55" on the top of the barn.
Sheila, I just watched this video of Dan Patch. I lived near the Delaware County Fair Grounds in Muncie, IN and boarded our horses there for 23 years. I heard Dan Patch raced there once or twice. Love this video :)
The Zig. Absolutely. This is to my mind the racehorse of the 20th Century. Secretariat is not even in the running to my mind. Zenyatta is today's boom horse, and yes, I think she is probably the horse of the 21st Century. Zenyatta is certainly the best I have seen in my life.
Thanks for the montage! I have been around the racing scene (harness & t-breds) for close to 40 yrs. and heard many stories about Dan Patch, but figured that they were a bit stretched. I was given a book titled "Crazy Good" written by Charles Leerhsen which gave me goosebumps, brought about by the realization that the stories I had heard about Dan's accomplishments are indeed factual! The 1:55 mile is even more remarkable when taking into consideration the poor state of track surfaces back then.
From Disney's movie 'So Dear To My Heart' around 1946: "Git out the way of Ole Dan Patch, git, git, git out the way". Dan Patch was traveling in his private railroad car when the train stopped at a small town. His trainer walked Dan about the station causing the town people to gather and admire the horse. The main character, a boy telling his story as an adult, wanted to give his apple to Dan Patch. The trainer first inspected the apple then permitted the boy to give it to Dan Patch.
harsey. You have to remember in Dan Patch's time. harness racing was bigger than thoroughbred racing. In our part of the world. harness racers are legends, like Cardigan Bay in NZ and Paleface Adios and Pure Steel in Australia. All these horses have statues made for them. In New Zealand, standardbred and thoroughbred racing still have equal status and with equal prize money.
@FFFFbody Dan Patch Days 2011, June 23-26, will once again offer fun for young and old alike. Throughout the weekend, an estimated 10,000 people will come to the Community Park in Savage to enjoy wonderful food, fantastic entertainment, spectacular fireworks, great hospitality and much more.
Judging by the number of views of this wonder video, no one in the country knows about him and his accomplishments. It would be great to get ESPN or Bloodhorse to write something up or do some kind of historical documentary on him. Of course there are many Italians who would convince you that Varenne is the greatest of all but Dan Patch has a good argument to be at the pinnacle too. kind of like MOW and Sec.
Lovely video! I've always been proud that Dan Patch was born in Indiana, my home state. I wonder if the basketball team name Indiana Pacers was in honor of him. Probably not, but it's a thought.
horseyaddicted. It is difficult to compare Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. I come from New Zealand. There, the great US Standardbreds like Hambletonian, Messenger, Greyhound and of course Dan Patch are probably better known than the Thoroughbred equivalents like Equipoise. For starters, we have races named after these horses. We did have Cardigan Bay, who is probably NZ's most famous racehorse - He raced in the US. Niatross caused a sensation in NZ too due to those phenominal mile rates.
Very cool. I wouldn't say the most famous though. Secretariat won the Triple Crown and he received so much attention even non-horse people wanted to see him. He got 8 awards, 2 horse of the years, broke 5 records, 4 of which are still standing, and one of which is a world record. Man O' War is also up there but Secretariat broke 2 of his 3 length wins.
We all agree they were great horses, but I have never heard of dan patch beating the fastest horses in the nation by 21 lengths. I personally saw Secretariat do that, and it was a once in a lifetime event.
An' the next thing ya know, Your son is playin' for money In a pinch-back suit. And list'nin to some big out-a-town Jasper Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'. Not a wholesome trottin' race, no! But a race where they set down right on the horse! Like to see some stuck-up jockey'boy Sittin' on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil? Well, I should say. From The Music Man, Meredith Willson
SugarTom must be smoking something. Dan Patch is certainly a wonder horse but maybe 10,000 people even know he existed despite his accomplishments which I think make him one of the greatest trotters ever, however, to say he is more famous than Secretariat belies a certainty that can be judged by mere number of views on youtube alone - Sec has nearly 4 million and Dan has 15000 or so. So in the fame department, Sec sits upon Mt Olympus and Dan is a mere spectator by comparison. Sorry
My great grandmother always told me stories about Dan Patch and what a great horse he was. And whenever i saw a black horse when i was younger i would say, "look its Dan Patch!" not realizing that he had passed on a long time ago. My grandmother was privliged enough to actually get her picture taken with this magnificent horse and its great to have heard the stories about him. A true legend. (:
loved it you did a great job i have a horse who is the 10th grandson of Dan patch and is a carbon copy of him and is a Major part of my life this is amazing
Camp Town Races and Old Grey Mare are songs about harness racing.
Holy crap!!! The sulkies were so close to the horse back then!!!
Dear Horseyaddicted, thank you for this great tribute. Though he died before I was born, my grandfather was a harness driver and trainer, and drove a horse named Tom Patch, brother (I think) to Dan. I even drove harness ponies in Adrian, MI when I was in Jr. High. My grandfather's photos and loving cup trophy have just been accepted by The Harness Racing Museum and Hall Of Fame in New York. Makes me feel like a little piece of this history. Nice job!
Probably the greatest horse of the 20th century. I would rate him above Secretariat in fame alone.
he was so gorgeous! 5*
Dan Patch lived 15 miles away from where I live. He lived in Oxford Indiana and that is still the only thing the people around that area ever talk about. Dan Patch Cafe and lots of other Dan Patch stuff. The owner of the barn even painted the words "Dan Patch, 1:55" on the top of the barn.
Sheila, I just watched this video of Dan Patch. I lived near the Delaware County Fair Grounds in Muncie, IN and boarded our horses there for 23 years. I heard Dan Patch raced there once or twice. Love this video :)
The Zig. Absolutely. This is to my mind the racehorse of the 20th Century. Secretariat is not even in the running to my mind. Zenyatta is today's boom horse, and yes, I think she is probably the horse of the 21st Century. Zenyatta is certainly the best I have seen in my life.
Thanks for the montage! I have been around the racing scene (harness & t-breds) for close to 40 yrs. and heard many stories about Dan Patch, but figured that they were a bit stretched. I was given a book titled "Crazy Good" written by Charles Leerhsen which gave me goosebumps, brought about by the realization that the stories I had heard about Dan's accomplishments are indeed factual! The 1:55 mile is even more remarkable when taking into consideration the poor state of track surfaces back then.
From Disney's movie 'So Dear To My Heart' around 1946: "Git out the way of Ole Dan Patch, git, git, git out the way".
Dan Patch was traveling in his private railroad car when the train stopped at a small town. His trainer walked Dan about the station causing the town people to gather and admire the horse. The main character, a boy telling his story as an adult, wanted to give his apple to Dan Patch. The trainer first inspected the apple then permitted the boy to give it to Dan Patch.
God bless him and his memory
what years did he race? he's cute! i wonder if there was ever a Breyer of him!
harsey. You have to remember in Dan Patch's time. harness racing was bigger than thoroughbred racing. In our part of the world. harness racers are legends, like Cardigan Bay in NZ and Paleface Adios and Pure Steel in Australia. All these horses have statues made for them. In New Zealand, standardbred and thoroughbred racing still have equal status and with equal prize money.
AMEN / AMEN FOREVERMORE RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Maybe if there was more pacers like him this day in time, I might would be interested in the pacing sport.
I love your vids btw ;)
T^T Very well done im not a pacer fan but this made me cry
@FFFFbody Dan Patch Days 2011, June 23-26, will once again offer fun for young and old alike. Throughout the weekend, an estimated 10,000 people will come to the Community Park in Savage to enjoy wonderful food, fantastic entertainment, spectacular fireworks, great hospitality and much more.
Judging by the number of views of this wonder video, no one in the country knows about him and his accomplishments. It would be great to get ESPN or Bloodhorse to write something up or do some kind of historical documentary on him. Of course there are many Italians who would convince you that Varenne is the greatest of all but Dan Patch has a good argument to be at the pinnacle too. kind of like MOW and Sec.
Lovely video! I've always been proud that Dan Patch was born in Indiana, my home state. I wonder if the basketball team name Indiana Pacers was in honor of him. Probably not, but it's a thought.
still interested in Dan Patch?
Just heard of this horse today for the first time - he was stunning to look at - how fast did he do the mile ?
TheZigster72 he went at the equivalent of 34.78mph.
i live 10 min away from where he was born
Still there and still interested?
horseyaddicted. It is difficult to compare Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. I come from New Zealand. There, the great US Standardbreds like Hambletonian, Messenger, Greyhound and of course Dan Patch are probably better known than the Thoroughbred equivalents like Equipoise. For starters, we have races named after these horses. We did have Cardigan Bay, who is probably NZ's most famous racehorse - He raced in the US. Niatross caused a sensation in NZ too due to those phenominal mile rates.
Very cool. I wouldn't say the most famous though. Secretariat won the Triple Crown and he received so much attention even non-horse people wanted to see him. He got 8 awards, 2 horse of the years, broke 5 records, 4 of which are still standing, and one of which is a world record. Man O' War is also up there but Secretariat broke 2 of his 3 length wins.
We all agree they were great horses, but I have never heard of dan patch
beating the fastest horses in the nation by 21 lengths. I personally saw
Secretariat do that, and it was a once in a lifetime event.
He outran a freight train,..and that's fast! (I should say,he outpaced it!)
i want to see the breyer!!! XD
really? thanx!
An' the next thing ya know,
Your son is playin' for money
In a pinch-back suit.
And list'nin to some big out-a-town Jasper
Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'.
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no!
But a race where they set down right on the horse!
Like to see some stuck-up jockey'boy
Sittin' on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil?
Well, I should say.
From The Music Man, Meredith Willson
There was a revival of Music Man on Broadway this year 2022, and Trouble in River City is still the hit it was!
SugarTom must be smoking something. Dan Patch is certainly a wonder horse but maybe 10,000 people even know he existed despite his accomplishments which I think make him one of the greatest trotters ever, however, to say he is more famous than Secretariat belies a certainty that can be judged by mere number of views on youtube alone - Sec has nearly 4 million and Dan has 15000 or so. So in the fame department, Sec sits upon Mt Olympus and Dan is a mere spectator by comparison. Sorry