Breeders Crown 1984 2YRCP -- USTA Harness Racing

[50speedracker]

The annoucer made this race!

[Honcho1982]

Look at the crowds... wow...

[rockybudgeboa]

Are any of these horses still with us?

[rockybudgeboa]

This was the race that decided USTA Horse of the Year for 1984, and Fancy Crown won because Nihilator lost.

[grecothom]

Brings back memories! I was one of the owners of Dragon's Lair and owned him while he stood stud and until his passing at Lindwood Farm. Earlier that evening in the first elimination heat - Nihalator beat the Dragon by a nose and set a world record. This was the final and the second race that same evening at the Meadows. Dragon's Lair took the lead and went all the way while setting yet another track record that evening. Lou Guida, the owner of Nihalator, was so impressed he became a partnr

[BIGRED224FOREVER]

Nihalator was a great champion, however not invincable. He was beaten as a 2 year old in the breeders crown here finishing 3rd with dragons lair, broadway express in front. He was beaten at garden state park in a upset by armbro dallas finishing second. He was beaten by marauder actually twice. The first was a heat of adios in which nihalator finished 4th, with chairman of the board and dignatarian along with maruader in front. Finally, he was beaten in a walkover by marauder in 2:26

[3443bh]

Great race! Thanks for sharing!

[ajb438]

"the voice" rodger houston

[thekid1921]

Really great to see this historical race again!

[Niaspeed]

Obviously, Nihilator was not at his best this day. That being said, kudos to Mallett and his connections for a truly dominating performance. I thought Odonell drove badly though..knowing that DL would be able to control the race once he got to the lead, he should have winged it after DL got the lead past the quarter. DL got soft middle fractions and that was the end of the story. BTW...Nihilator got beat in the Governors Cup at Garden State by Casino Cowboy late in the year.

[BIGRED224FOREVER]

Casino cowboy never defeated nihaltor however he was beaten by armbro dallas in a shocking upset at garden state park. He ran nihaltor down in the stretch,kinda hard to believe actually!

[BIGRED224FOREVER]

I consider nihaltor's greatest race was against niafirst at the red mile...............parked the entire mile nose to nose and drew off to win by four in world record for a 2 year old.

[magictricksreveal]

Did anybody notice that BROADWAY EXPRESS was second in this race? Give Drangon's Lair all the credit for a great race but don't forget BROADWAY as the only other horse to ever finish a race ahead of Nihilator EVER!!

[nickrock23]

didn't marauder beat nihilator?

DL stole that 2nd quarter, that was the difference. he was game tho, credit

[nickrock23]

thanks for the info.. i was 10 in 84, but i did see nihilator race. i was at the big M when they were giving out cassettes with a song called "Nihilator", maybe it was his last race, not sure. anyway it was pretty crappy, i still remember how it went.

[megatron532]

nihalator only lost 3 races lifetime so this information is wrong

[BIGRED224FOREVER]

@megatron53 dragons lair in 84 and broadway express in this race............marauder in the adios............armbro dallas at garden state park. Thats 4 horses in 3 races!

[smaexpress]

It just doesn't seem like today's pacers grind as "slowly" as Nihilator did in this flashback from the '84 Breeder's Crown. Perhaps Nihilator just wasn't himself that day. Still, I think today's drivers would have considered more of a brush-type grind, if you will. Maybe not necessarily an all-out blitz to the top, but definitely something more aggressive than that. On the other hand, it could also be that the undefeated Nihilator was just simply outclassed by Dragon's Lair that day.