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Dan Mace

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Dan Mace
Born
Daniel Mace

1834
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedApril 19, 1885
New York City, New York, U.S.
Other namesThe Wizard of the Reins
Occupations
  • Harness racing driver
  • horse trainer
Known forHarness racing
AwardsUnited States Harness Racing Hall of Fame (1977)[1]

Daniel Mace (1834 – April 19, 1885) was an American harness racing jockey and horse trainer. He was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1977.

Early life

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Dan Mace was born in 1834 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.[2]

His brother, Ben Mace, was also a horseman.[3]

Career

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In his early days, Dan Mace managed many noted horses, including Kate Miller, Mary Taylor, Touch-Me-Not, Old Bones, Duchess, Meddlesome, Tom Hyer, Dentist, Lady Westley, and several others.[2]

Dan Mace handled the reins of the famed champion Ethan Allen in 1858.[2] In partnership with J. Dunn Walton, he purchased a fourteen-year-old Ethan Allen from Frank Baker and drove him in several record races.[1]

Mace took charge of Daniel Lambert, a speedy three-year-old son of Ethan Allen sent by owner John Porter of Ticonderoga, New York.[4] At the Old Saugus track in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on October 22, 1861, Daniel Lambert won two heats, one in a record 2:42, prompting Dan Mace to challenge any three-year-old trotter in the world for $5,000 or $10,000 a side.[5]

Dan Mace drove Ethan Allen and Honest Allen as a team in 1862, beating Simon Browne's Toronto Chief and running mate in 2:33 at Long Island's Fashion Course.[6] He later drove the stallions in a timed trial, recording 2:23½ under the watch of several prominent horsemen.[7]

Judge Fullerton, as he appeared in harness, driven by Dan Mace, Currier & Ives, 1873

On June 25, 1862, Dan Mace drove General Butler to victory over Panic to wagon, with times of 2:29 and 2:28¾.[8]

Between 1863 and 1870, Dan Mace handled horses such as Gen. Butler, Shark, Pocahontas, Fearnaught, Commodore Vanderbilt, Prince, Gray Mack, Quaker, Kittie, Wink, Billy Barr, Sorrel Dan, Young Woeful, Rhode Island, and John Morgan.[2]

Dan Mace trained the bay gelding Shark who was sired by Hambletonian 10, and first raced him against Frank Temple, winning around $5,000.[2] At the Fashion Course on May 18, 1864, Dan Mace took the reins of Shark to race in harness against Dexter and Lady Shannon in mile heats, best three of five.[9]

At the Fashion Course on Long Island, June 21, 1867, Dan Mace guided Ethan Allen and his running mate to victory over Dexter in a sulky, sweeping three heats in remarkable times of 2:15, 2:16, and 2:19. It was later captured in a lithograph by Currier & Ives in 1872.[10]

In 1868, at Buffalo's first $10,000 class race, Dan Mace drove Fearnaught to a decisive win in the 2:30 class. His first heat in 2:23¼ lowered the stallion record of 2:23½, by George M. Patchen that had stood for eight years.[3]

Dan Mace bought Lady Thorn for $20,000 in May 1870, and on July 4 she won her debut under his direction at Prospect Park, sweeping three heats against George Wilkes and others.[11] Dan Mace believed that she had the ability to trot faster than 2:10 if conditioned for a single fast mile.[12]

During the early 1870s, Dan Mace was entrusted with training and driving the trotter Judge Fullerton.[13] In front of 8,000 spectators at East Saginaw's famed trotting course on July 18, 1874, Dan Mace drove Judge Fullerton in a match against Budd Doble and Goldsmith Maid, who took the victory in 2:16.[14]

The New York-based lithography firm Currier & Ives produced a print of the pacer Sorrel Dan, driven by Dan Mace in 1880.

By 1880, Dan Mace, having broken his collarbone in a sulky accident at St. Paul, withdrew from active participation in trotting races.[2]

Death

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Dan Mace died on April 19, 1885, in New York City, New York, United States.[15]

Legacy

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Dan Mace set records driving Ethan Allen (2:25½), Fearnaught (2:23¼), Judge Fullerton (2:18), Hopeful (2:14¾), and Darby (2:16½).[16]

Known as "The Wizard of the Reins," Dan Mace drew the largest public following of any driver from 1865 to 1885, aside from Hiram Woodruff.[1]

With great patience and a willingness to try new approaches, Dan Mace was a skilled driver and an expert judge of pace, often knowing by the half-mile pole whether to push for a win or conserve his horse. John Splan, a successful driver, credited his early training to Mace and adopted many of his techniques.[17]

Mace discovered that using goggles could help correct the vision problems of a horse when he first used them on the stallion Fearnaught.[18]

Dan Mace was inducted into the Immortals category of the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1977.[1]

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  • The great pacer Sorrel Dan, driven by Dan Mace, c. 1880
    The great pacer Sorrel Dan, driven by Dan Mace, c. 1880

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "DAN MACE". harnessmuseum.com. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "The Late Dan Nice". Turner County Herald. June 11, 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  3. ^ a b John Hervey (1948). American Harness Racing. Hartenstein. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "GOLDEN KING" (PDF). morganhorse.com. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  5. ^ The American Trotter: A Treatise on His Origin, History and Development. American Horse Breeder Publishing Company. 1905. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ The Breeder's Gazette - Volume 1. J.H. Sanders & Company. 1882. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "The Late Dan Nice". Commercial. January 31, 1903. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  8. ^ The Farmer's Magazine and Kentucky Live-stock Monthly - Volumes 4-5. J. Duncan. 1880. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ The Trotting Horse of America: how to Train and Drive Him. With Reminiscences of the Trotting Turf. Edited by C. J. Foster ... Including an Introductory Notice by G. Wilkes, and a Biographical Sketch by the Editor. J. Duncan. 1868. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "The celebrated trotting Stallion Ethan Allen in double ..." loc.gov. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  11. ^ American Roadsters and Trotting Horses: Being a Sketch of the Trotting Stallions of the United States, and a Treatise on the Breeding of the Same. Rand, McNally & Company. 1878. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ Harper's Weekly - Volume 33. Harper's Magazine Company. 1889. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Famous Horses of America: Containing Fifty-nine Portraits of the Celebrities of the American Turf, Past and Present. With Short Biographies. Porter and Coates. 1877. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ "Best Time on Record. Three Heats in 2:19 3/4 2:16 1/2 2:16". americanhistory.si.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  15. ^ The New York Clipper Annual. Frank Queen Publishing Company (Limited). 1893. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ The American Trotter. Coward-McCann. 1947. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ Turf, Field, and Farm - Volume 65. Turf, field and farm assoc. 1897. Retrieved 2025-08-03 – via Google Books.
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