Part of a Portfolio of 8 Harness Champions from Original Paintings.

Darn Safe, br. 1951, by Darnley-Proctectarine. Owner, Hayes Fair Acres Stable; breeder, Walnut Hall Stud.

The richest trotter of all time, and one of the fastest horses ever to step between the shafts, is Hayes Fair Acres Stables’ Darn Safe, champion of the half-mile tracks. The venerable gelding by Darnley-Protectarine holds five world records.
A product of the renowned Walnut Hall Stud, he began his assault on the record boks as a three-year-old, when he trotted the fastest mile ever turned in by a gelding of that age on a half mile course, 2:04-2/5 at Delaware, His second heat in 2:08-2/5 made for a record two-heat time, 4:12-4/5. On the larger track at Indianapolis he won the Horseman Futurity in 2:01-2/5 and 2:00-3/5 for a two heat time of 4:02, then the fastest ever recorded by a three-year-old gelding over a mile course.

The next season he counted the Maywood Trotting Derby at Chicago, the Big Five Abe Lincoln at Springfield and an invitational at Delaware among his nine victories from one coast to the other. His 2:01 in the first heat at Springfield was the seasonal record for a four-year-old gelding on a mile track. At the Delaware half-mile, he trotted home in 2:02, equaling the fsest time ever made by an un-sexed four-year-old over a small course. That figure was first achieved by the immortal Greyhound in a 1963 time trial, and had been matched in races by Pronto Don in 1951 and Maximilian in 1954.

Hampered by an early season injury at five, Darn Safe still took three free for all classics, the best being a 2:01-2/5 clocking at Hazel Park.

He came back at the age of six better than ever, as he proved at Vernon on August 7th by setting a seasonal record of 2:00 flat for an aged gelding on a mile track. At Saratoga the next week Darn Safe set a race record for all ages and sexes on a half mile track, 1:59-4/5. The only previous trotter to beat two minutes on a small track was Greyhound, who spun a time trail in 1:59-3/4, 1/20 of a second faster than Darn Safe’s mark. The latter’s second heat in 2:03-3/5 also gave him the two heat record for a gelding, 4:03-2/5. That season he accounted for the Empire Trotting Classic at Saratoga, the Trotting Derby at DuQuoin, and 13 races in all.
At seven he was the season’s leading trotter, with 14 wins, eight seconds, a third and $113,462 in 27 stars. His richest triumph came in the Eastern Championship Trot. At Richelieu on August 16th he set the seasonal record for an aged gelding over a half-mile track, 2:01-2/5.

He was also a good winner in 1959, including a 2:02-4/5 performance in a free for all at Yonkers. His second at the same raceway in a $25,000 free for all on July 16th, brought his total earnings to $342,387, giving him the financial crown among trotters.

To date, July 11, 1962…DARN SAFE, the indestructible 11-year-old World’s Champion, had earned the sum of $458,077, keeping him at the head of the trotting money earning list.