Jimmy Takter Stable

Jimmy Takter got his start in the harness racing business through his father Bo W. Takter, who is one of the most successful trainers in Sweden. When Jimmy was 5 years old he started helping his father around the barn. He began working for his father when he was 16 years old. His first driving victory came at age 18 at Jagersro in Malmo, Sweden. The horse was Air Money, and he paid $88.00 to win. Takter’s first U.S. win came in 1983 at The Meadowlands with Baltic Speed in a New Jersey Sires Stake. Takter credits his father for his success in the business. He says, “I admire my father because he has taught me so much about this business. I also admire Soren Nordin as I worked for him for two years in the United States...he is such a great horseman.”

Takter became one of the top trotting trainers on the Grand Circuit in the early nineties, thanks to horses like Mr Lavec ($947,321 in earnings in 1993-94), Gleam (1994’s 3-year-old trotting filly of the year in the year-end balloting and a career winner of $587,858), and Kramer Boy ($598,009 in earnings in 1995-96). These three horses were outstanding individuals, but Takter climbed to the next plateau with Malabar Man and Moni Maker, who both achieved Horse of the Year honors. As a freshman in 1996, the Supergill colt Malabar Man had 13 wins in 15 season’s starts, bankrolling $464,041. He won the $428,676 Cadillac Breeders Crown Final, the $106,600 Harold Dancer Memorial Final, and an $85,250 Campbellville division that year. At season’s end, Malabar Man was named as the 2-year-old colt trotter of the year in the post-season balloting. In 1997 Malabar Man put up a season for the ages. He enjoyed 11 wins in 14 starts and was the richest Standardbred in North America with earnings of $1,485,417. Malabar Man’s major victories came in the $1.2 million Hambletonian, the $594,000 Breeders Crown (equaling the national season’s record clocking of 1:55.2), the $416,000 Beacon Course Final, the $190,500 American- National, the $142,890 Bluegrass-Transylvania, and the $100,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes Final. Malabar Man won Dan Patch Awards as Horse of the Year, Trotter of the Year, and 3-year-old colt trotter of the year. As great as Malabar Man was, Moni Maker was even better for Takter. As a 4-year-old in 1997, the Speedy Crown distaffer had six wins and two seconds in nine North American starts with earnings of $512,250. She was triumphant in the $324,000 Classic Oaks Final at Mohawk and the $312,500 Nat Ray Final at The Meadowlands (in 1:52.2, the fastest trotting mile of 1997). She also finished second, a head behind Wesgate Crown, in the $540,000 Breeders Crown. Moni Maker was the overwhelming choice in the 1997 Dan Patch Awards balloting as the top older trotting mare in the sport. But in 1998 Moni Maker reached even greater heights. Racing both here and abroad, she had combined earnings in excess of $1.2 million. She won three of four North American starts, with victories in the $500,000 Breeders Crown (in a world-record clocking of 1:52.3) and the $300,000 Nat Ray Final. Moni Maker also won the prestigious Elitlopp in Sweden, taking the final in a world-record clocking of 1:53.3 over the five-eighths-mile Solvalla oval. At season’s end she was named Horse of the Year in the Dan Patch Awards balloting, and also garnered her second consecutive divisional trophy. Moni Maker showed no signs of letting up in 1999 at the age of six. Continuing to race both domestically and overseas, she had 14 wins in 21 overall starts, with a bankroll of nearly $1.5 million. Her biggest victories in North America came in the $404,250 Trotting Classic Final and the $165,000 American-National. She also finished second to Supergrit in the $500,000 Trot Mondial. Her European victories included the Prix d’Amerique, the Prix de France, and the Premio Tor Di Valle. Moni Maker was again named Horse of the Year in the Dan Patch balloting (the first female to ever earn that honor twice) and captured her third straight divisional title.r> The 2000 season was Moni Maker’s last on the track, and she went out in grand style. As a 7-year-old, she made 14 combined starts during another North American and European campaign, with seven wins, four seconds, and one third, earning $1,173,273. The great mare was victorious in the $500,000 Trot Mondial and the $500,000 Nat Ray Final. She also finished second to Magician in both the $1 million Breeders Crown Final and the $582,500 Maple Leaf Trotting Classic Final. Moni Maker earned her third consecutive Trotter of the Year title in the Dan Patch balloting, as well as her fourth straight divisional crown. She retired with career earnings of $5,589,256, making her the richest Standardbred of all time and the richest female racehorse of any breed.

In 2002, Jimmy was back in the spotlight with the 3-year-old colt Kadabra, who was the Dan Patch Award winner as the sport’s Trotter of the Year. The Illinois-bred son of Primrose Lane was a winner in 11 of his 14 starts that year and earned $1,215,496. He was victorious in the $721,035 Canadian Trotting Classic Final, the $542,500 Breeders Crown Final, the $400,000 Stanley Dancer Trot Final, the $226,764 Matron Final, the $180,000 American-National, and the $86,000 Review Stake. The tough trotting colt Tom Ridge continued the Takter success story in 2003-04. The bay Muscles Yankee lad was a winner in six of his eight starts as a freshman in ‘03 and earned $383,037. He dominated the field in the $440,000 Peter Haughton Memorial Final, drubbing Yankee Elegance by 7-1/4 lengths in 1:56.1, a clocking which established the North American mark for a 2-year-old trotting colt on a mile track. Tom Ridge also captured the $150,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes Final that year. As a 3- year-old, Tom Ridge hit the board in eight of his 10 trips behind the gate, with $503,107 in checks. He was at his best for Jimmy in the $530,000 World Trotting Derby at Du Quoin, capturing the first heat in 1:51 and the second heat in 1:50.2 (the fastest trotting mile in the history of the sport). The two-time Dan Patch Award winner Passionate Glide was Jimmy’s best over the past two campaigns. As a freshman in 2005, she had five wins and five seconds in 11 starts, with earnings of $638,947. Passionate Glide was in the winner’s circle after major victories in the $516,800 Breeders Crown Final and the $473,884 Goldsmith Maid Final. She also captured divisions of the Lexington Selected Sale and the Bluegrass. Last year as a 3-year-old, Passionate Glide won 13 of her 15 appearances and banked $1,087,900. She was victorious in the $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks Final, the $375,000 Delvin Miller Memorial Final, the $330,000 Kentucky Filly Futurity, the $234,500 Moni Maker Final, and the $175,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes Final. Global Glide was another successful Takter trainee in 2005-06. During his freshman campaign, the Yankee Glide lad had five victories in 15 starts and earned $271,106. He picked up victories in a $92,650 Bluegrass division and a $77,250 International Stallion Stake split. Global Glide was second in the $417,690 William Wellwood Memorial Final and the $175,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes Final. At 3, Global Glide banked $292,082 on the strength of eight in-themoney efforts in 17 appearances. His biggest triumph came in a $120,000 Zweig Memorial division at Tioga Downs, while his largest check came courtesy of a fourth-place finish in the $1.5 million Hambletonian final. Jimmy’s top juvenile in ’06 was Pampered Princess, a Dan Patch Award winner as the sport’s top 2-year-old trotting filly. The Andover Hall miss won 10 of her 12 starts, with earnings of $626,244. She was victorious in her first nine career efforts, including the $487,097 Oakville Final and a $103,685 Robert Stewart Stakes division. That streak ended with a second-place finish in the $600,000 Breeders Crown Final, when she lost to Possess The Magic by 1-3/4 lengths. Takter also made headlines in 2006 when he won a leg of the Pacing Triple Crown, the Little

Brown Jug, with Mr Feelgood. The son of Grinfromeartoear captured his $57,707 Jug elimination in 1:50 flat, a new world record for a sophomore pacing colt on a half-mile track. In the $259,679 second heat of the Jug, Mr Feelgood enjoyed a pocket trip, then came on in the stretch to post a 1-3/4-length decision over Cactus Creek in a time of 1:50.3. Those victories gave Mr Feelgood the lion’s share of his $594,669 in season’s earnings. Another top horse for Jimmy last year was the 3-year-old pacing filly Armbro Dancer. She was a winner in eight of her 11 starts and banked $388,259. Her 1:49.3 score in the $325,000 Mistletoe Shalee Final was a national season’s record on a mile track. The Blissfull Hall miss also captured the $100,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes Final and was third in the $638,190 Fan Hanover Final. This group of horses helped Takter to 2006 earnings of $4,726,472, a career-best total that ranked him third (behind Ervin Miller and Mickey Burke) among all trainers in North America. “I think of every horse as an individual, and I try to train each horse the way I think will fit him best. For me, to train a horse is like a big puzzle with hundreds of pieces to put together correctly. And the biggest piece, of course, is to put in a lot of work and interest,” he said. In 1996 Takter received one of the top honors in the sport when he was named as the winner of the Glen Garnsey Trainer of the Year Award from the United States Harness Writers Association. During the 2000 campaign he was a co-winner of that award with Mark Ford.