Owner Aubrey Friedman has informed Trot Insider that Camcracker, the millionaire son of Cambest that was standing at stud in Alberta, has passed away at the age of 18.
Camcracker thrilled fans over a six-year career which saw him battle some of the toughest free for all pacers that the sport had to offer. He won 39 of his 151 career starts and banked just under $1.1 million in career purses.
In addition to his victories, Camcracker recorded 23 second-place finishes and finished third 14 times. His mark of 1:49.3 was taken in 2002 at Mohawk Racetrack as a six-year-old.
He was trained primarily by conditioned Mark Harder and had also paraded out of the barns of James Watson, Michael Palone, Ronald Coyne and Virgil Morgan Jr. during his career.
Camcracker passed away on October 17 at Sky West Farms in Alberta where he was standing at stud. Friedman told Trot Insider that it was Sky West’s Dr. David Dyrholm who had to deliver the tough news.
"David called me and told me he had sad news,” Friedman said. “He went out to the paddock in the morning, and he (Camcracker) wasn't standing."
Camcracker was a back-to-back winner of the Woodbine Entertainment Group’s Spring Pacing Championship. He got the job done in the 2002 with Mike Saftic aboard. The pair had gone postward at 9-1 over Mohawk Racetrack and closed in the $116,500 event to capture the final by a quarter length in 1:50.2. He had a different pilot at the helm in 2003 (Paul MacDonell) when he won the $109,000 SPC final in 1:51.1 as the post-time choice.
He sired 121 offspring, 117 of which were eligible to race. Seventy-four of his progeny faced the gate in pari-mutuel dashes and seven of his offspring banked over $100,000 in career purse earnings.
Some of Camcracker’s most successful sons and daughters were Aussie Reactor A ($525,669), Playbook ($219,240), Camblazer ($263,793), Canyacrackher ($105,060), Gramrun Jake ($187,290) and Crackers Hot Shot ($180,271).
"Camcracker made his mark on the racetrack and as a stud on the Alberta circuit,” Friedman told Trot Insider. “He will be missed."
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Camcracker.