Print size 19″ X 24″, Image Size 12.75″ X 16.25″

This print has been in storage since 1967 and has slight discolorations around the print border which does not distract from the beauty of the print and would be easily covered up when matted and framed.

MERRIE ANNABELLE (EX Lady Annabelle), roan filly, 1956, by Rodney-Annabelle), roan filly, 1956, by Rodney-Annabella, by Volomite., Owners, Mr. and Mrs. Byron D. Kuth;
Breeder, Castleton Farm; Trainer-driver John Patterson.

The fastest two-year-old trotting filly in the history of harness racing was the flashy roan filly Merrie Annabelle, who tragically was fatally injured before she could reveal the full extent of her class and speed.

Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Fred L. Van Lennep’s famed Castleton Farm, Lexington, Ky., the daughter of the great trotting sire Rodney out of the noted Volomite producer Annabella was sold at Tattersalls for $4,000 to Byron Kuth of Chesterland, Ohio. Originally named “Lady Annabelle,” she was rechristened Merrie Annabelle, for her new owner’s Merrie Meadows Farm.

A sizable individual, round, compact, strawberry roan in color and a natural trotter from the day she first stepped between shafts, she was a pleasure to behold and a delight to watch in action. Even in her early training under John Hague, it was obvious that she possessed tremendous potential.

But she seemed disinclined to realize her full possibilities until she was placed under John Patterson’s care in May. A bond of sympathy was quickly
Established between the filly and her new trainer-driver; and the pair went from success to success at Grandview, Sportsman’s Park, Northville Downs and on down the Grand Circuit trail.

At Indianapolis she won the Hoosier Futurity and Breeders Filly Stakes, both in straight heats, within a three-day period.

Then at Delaware, Ohio, on Sept. 19 she set a two-heat world record for a two-year-old filly over a half-mile track by trotting home in 2:05 3/5 in the first and 2:05 2/5 in the second for a total time of 4:11. These were the best individual heat times of the year for a two-year-old filly over a half-mile track.

But this was only a prelude to her performances at the Lexington, Ky., “red mile.” On Sept. 26 she won the first heat of the Hanover Filly Stake with such ridiculous ease in 2:03 4/5 that she was barred from the betting in the second, which she took in 2:00, equaling Scott Frost’s race record for a two-year-old of either sex. Her two-heat total of 4:03 4/5 was also a new world record for a two-year-old trotter of either sex. Four days later she came back to out trot the colts for the Saul Camp Memorial in 2:04 and 2:01 4/5 running her total earnings to $39,181 with 13 wins in 23 starts, she accomplished all this with seemingly effortless final-quarter charges that simply smothered her opposition.

On Oct. 2, Mr. Kuth firmly refused a $110,000 offer for Merrie Annabelle.

The next morning, as she was being led onto the track, she reared; fell backwards; and suffered a back injury that left her paralyzed. A tent was erected over her where she fell until it was deemed safe to move her to a stall; and every effort and veterinary consultation was bent toward saving her, at least for the nursery. But that was not possible. She was buried at Castleton Farm, where she was foaled.