The Good Brother
by Lisa Harkema
He was the talent that didn’t quite live up to his pedigree and the expectations. Sold to Europe, Brother Hanover produced tremendously well at stud in both the Netherlands and Germany and was an active stallion until his 30s.
The 1927 US crop was all about one horse: Hanover’s Bertha. The filly set world records at 2 and 3 and barely lost a race, even when the other drivers colluded against her in the Hambletonian. But Hanover Shoe Farms didn’t just have one good trotter that year – in Brother Hanover they had another one almost as talented. Incidentally, neither was bred by Hanover. When AB Coxe died in April 1926, Lawrence Sheppard bought all of his horses for $150,000 in a deal that overnight transformed the Pennsylvania farm into a powerhouse in the sport. In that deal were broodmares Miss Bertha Dillon and Sister Bertha, both in foal to Peter Volo, and Hanover’s Bertha and Brother Hanover were born the following spring.
In blood Brother Hanover was indeed a brother to Hanover’s Bertha, as both were by Peter Volo and their dams, Sister Bertha and Miss Bertha Dillon, were full sisters. Sister Bertha 3, 2:02 3/4 (1.16.3) was a classy trotter, a world champion at 3 and a winner of the Horse Review and the Matron. With her abilities and pedigree, expectations to her as a broodmare were naturally high – and Brother Hanover showed immediate promise. In May as a two-year-old Tom Berry started both him and Hanover’s Bertha against the clock to beat 2:30 1/4, so as to qualify as a true “standardbred.” Neither “sibling” disappointed: Hanover’s Bertha trotted in 2:12 (1.22,0) while Brother Hanover finished his mile in a very respectable 2:15 (1.23.9) clocking.
Taking it relatively ease with the talented duo, Berry started Brother Hanover only five times at 2 and he never had to face Bertha. In July, while the filly set a world record for two heats at Grand Rapids, Berry opted to let the colt run another time trial. There Brother Hanover lowered his record to 2:09 1/4 (1.20,3), and on his debut in Detroit on August 2 he had no problems sweeping both heats. Keeping the filly away, Berry and Brother repeated at Hartford two weeks later. The Horse Review at Goshen was taken home in three heats after losing the first to Pola McElwyn. Only in the Horseman Futurity at Indianapolis did he taste defeat as Main Mcelwyn and Ben White proved too difficult. He rounded off his debut season with a win at Lexington in October and was 4-1-0 in only 5 starts at 2.