The first Hambo winner
by Lisa Harkema
Being first usually carries prestige and being the first Hambletonian winner carries a certain immortality to it. The massive $73,451.32 purse – more than five times the 1926 Kentucky Futurity purse ($14,000) – attracted 14 hopefuls to the mile track in Syracuse. While Hazleton was the pre-season favorite, Guy McKinney was not considered to have much of a chance. A new trainer turned the colt around, however and Guy McKinney went on to have a great three-year-old season.
Guy McKinney developed a critical illness shortly after his yearling purchase, but recovered and started three times as a two-year-old. Trained by Townsend Ackerman at Goshen, the horse never figured in any of those races. Owner Harry B. Rea, who had bought the Guy Axworthy son for $925 as a yearling, kept faith in the son of Guy Axworthy and made the January 1, 1926, nominating payment to the Hambletonian.
Prior to the colt’s three-year-old season, Rea moved the horse to Canadian-born trainer Nat Ray, based at North Randall, Cleveland. Nat Ray had begun his career as a jockey and steeplechase rider, but in 1911 turned to harness racing. Under the new trainer’s expert guidance Guy McKinney developed into the supreme horse of the 1923 generation. Guy McKinney came into the Hambletonian undefeated at three. The colt would proceed to win almost everything at 3, including the Kentucky Futurity, the International Stallion, the Matron and the Horse Review Stakes, amassing $68,742 in seasonal earnings – a record that was not bettered until 1949.