1983 Hambletonian - Duenna

In what can only be described as a storybook ending, Duenna overcame seemingly unbeatable odds, and driver Stanley Dancer conquered painful grief to win the 58th edition of the Hambletonian. The drama of the 1983 Hambletonian began long before post time. Dancer’s prize colt, Dancer’s Crown, overwhelming favorite to win that year’s Hambletonian, died 18 days before the race of complications resulting from a displaced colon. Dancer’s hopes of winning the classic seemed all but gone, but owner Norman Woolworth gave Dancer a second chance-however remote it seemed-when he decided to bypass the Hambletonian Oaks and enter his filly against colts in the Hambletonian.