The Flawless One
by Lisa Harkema
From humble beginnings, he became one of the best three-year-olds, then went on to dominate as an aged trotter. In was at stud he established himself as one of the true legends of trotting, though, but it was a stroke of luck that Speedy Crown wasn’t lost to American trotting after his two-year-old season.
Speedy Crown was bred by Ann W Beissinger, wife of Howard Beissinger. The couple’s part in the story starts back in 1955, when Howard bought filly Worth a Plenty at yearling auction. A daughter of Darnley and Sparkle Plenty, she had a good sire with a relatively modest maternal family. Her great grandam, Ellie Trabue, finished third in the inaugural Hambletonian in 1926, and produced p2:02 (1.15,8) pacer My Son, but there was otherwise very little discernable quality in the maternal family. Worth a Plenty’s sire Darnley was a promising sire who had produced Jamie, winner of the American Trotting Championship in 1955, Hit Song, who after two really good seasons in the US, topped by second place in the 1952 Hambletonian, had gone on to racing fame in Italy plus Darn Safe, winner of the 1954 American-National and third in the Kentucky Futurity. Later, Worth a Plenty’s full brother City Light became another good export to Italy, topped by his third-place finish in the 1967 Prix d’Amerique.
Worth A Plenty was an average trotter who raced to a 2:02.2 (1.16,1) record in a time trial at 3, before going lame. Her first foal was 1961 filly First Dividend by Triple Crown-winner Scott frost. Beissinger had gotten a free breeding to Florican from Castleton Farm in Kentucky and used this in 1961. The following spring the mare delivered a filly who was named Missile Toe. Beissinger was training privately in the mid-1960s and could not train his own filly. He assigned her to John Hague, and Missile Toe raced primarily at fairs in Ohio where she more than held her own. She time trialed in 2:05.2 (1.17,9) at 3.
Missile Toe, as many of the Floricans, didn’t have much knee action in front. On the opposite side of this spectrum was Speedy Scot, who Beissigner bred his mare to in early 1967. On Jan 29, 1968, a bay colt was born. According to Dean Hoffman’s article Looking Back at Speedy Crown, Beissinger had just returned from seeing his first National Finals Rodeo at the time, and named the colt Headin And Healin, after an rodeo event officially called team roping.