Jimmy Takter
{{short description|Swedish horse trainer}}
{{Infobox horseracing personality
|name = Jimmy Takter
|image = Jimmy Takter 001.jpg
|caption =
|occupation = Harness racing driver & trainer
|birth_place = Norrköping, Östergötland, Sweden
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|9|29}}
|race = Canadian Trotting Classic
(1997, 2002, 2014, 2015, 2016) †
Hambletonian Oaks
(1994, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016) †
Ben Franklin Free-For-All Pace
(2010, 2016)
Metro Pace (2011)
TVG Free For All Pace (2016)
Gold Cup Invitational Pace (2016)
U.S. Pacing Triple Crown wins:
Little Brown Jug (2006)
U.S. Trotting Triple Crown wins:
Hambletonian (1997, 2010, 2014, 2015)
Breeders Crown wins:
Breeders Crown 2YO Filly Trot
(1993, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016) †
Breeders Crown 2YO Colt & Gelding Trot (1996, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2014) †
Breeders Crown 3YO Colt & Gelding Trot (1997, 2002, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016) †
Breeders Crown Open Trot
(2006,2015)
Breeders Crown 2YO Filly Pace
(2010, 2013, 2015,2016)
Breeders Crown 2YO Colt & Gelding Pace
(2012)
Breeders Crown 3YO Filly Trot
(2014, 2015)
Breeders Crown Open Pace
(2015, 2016)
International race wins:
Elitloppet (1998)
Prix d'Amérique (1999)
† denotes record
|awards = Dan Patch Trainer of the Year Award
(1996, 2000, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016,
|honours = U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame (2012)
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (2019)
|horses = Always B. Miki, Malabar Man, Moni Maker, Pure Country, Sir Taurus, See You At Peelers, Bar Hopping, Father Patrick, Vintage Master, Tom Ridge, Shake It Cerry
|updated = January 10, 2017
}}
Jimmy Takter (born September 29, 1960, in Norrköping, Sweden) is a harness racing horse trainer based in East Windsor, New Jersey, who came to the U.S. in 1982.{{Cite news|title = From Sweden to America with A Knack for Winning Horses|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/sports/horse-trainer-brings-swedish-pace-to-winning.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2011-07-04|access-date = 2015-12-26|issn = 0362-4331|first = Joe|last = Drape}} He was inducted into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=48938&zoneid=1 |title=Jimmy Takter inducted into Hall of Fame |last1=Harvey |first1=Ellen |date=2012-07-01 |website=United States Trotting Association |access-date=2015-12-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225165126/http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=48938&zoneid=1 |archive-date=2015-12-25 }}
Background
Takter is the son of Swedish trainer Bo William Takter.{{cite web|title=Happily Ever Takter|url=http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/hoofbeats.aspx?articleid=48613|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103165430/http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/hoofbeats.aspx?articleid=48613|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 3, 2017|website=USTA-News|access-date=2 January 2017}} He was originally a driver, earning his first win at Jagersro racetrack in Malmo, Sweden at age 18. He moved to the United States in 1978 to work for Continental Farms Stable, then returned to Sweden where he married Christina, his childhood sweetheart. The two permanently moved to the United States in December 1982 and have four children, Nancy, Jenny, Tiffany and Jimmy, Jr. Takter became a U.S. citizen in 2000. Christina handles his books and stable business.{{cite web|title=JIMMY TAKTER {{!}} Harness Museum|url=https://www.harnessmuseum.com/content/jimmy-takter|website=www.harnessmuseum.com|access-date=2 January 2017}}{{cite web|title=Jimmy Takter - I never moving home|url=http://www.worldclasstrotting.com/JimmyTakter/news/JimmyTakter_080911_Eng.htm|website=www.worldclasstrotting.com|access-date=2 January 2017}}
Racing career
Takter won his first race in North America as a driver with Baltic Speed in 1983. He earned his first win as a trainer with Witsend's Apollo in 1984, whose 30 wins were critical to Takter's early success. "He was a very important horse," said Takter. "He came along at the right time and he supported our family for a couple of years and he meant a lot to my wife and me. A horse like that gave me the ability to develop as a trainer."
By the early 1990s, Takter was considered one of the leading trainers on the Grand Circuit. In 1996 he earned his first Trainer of the Year Award thanks to 2-year-old trotting champions Armbro Prowess and Malabar Man. In 1997, Malabar Man went on to win the Hambletonian, All-American and Breeders Crown and was named the Harness Horse of the Year.
From 1997 through 2000, Takter raced Moni Maker at tracks around the United States and abroad, winning such races as the Breeders' Crown, Elitloppet and Prix d'Amerique. Moni Maker was a three-time trotter of the year and retired as the highest earning Standardbred of all-time.
As of December 2016, horses trained by Takter had accumulated $120 million in earnings and more than 1,700 wins. He owns a 100-acre training facility in New Jersey that contains a {{frac|5|8}}-mile track, a {{frac|3|4}}-mile straight track, and a 2-mile jogging track.{{cite web|title=One-On-One with trainer Jimmy Takter|url=http://www.harnesslink.com/News/okay-here-we-go|website=Harness Link|access-date=2 January 2017}}
In October 2015, Takter had a career highlight, earning $2,691,439 in the 2015 Breeders Crown Finals.{{cite web |url=http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/news/10-27-15/best-card-ever-jimmy-takter.html |title=Best Card Ever For Jimmy Takter |date=2015-10-27 |author= |website= Standardbred Canada |access-date=2015-12-25}}
During his career, Takter has won the Dan Patch Trainer of the Year Award six times, the most of any trainer.[http://www.ushwa.org/media/95b1874d942b0b92ffff8a2dffffe415.pdf United States Harness Writers Association Driver of the Year Award Winners] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421213837/http://www.ushwa.org/media/95b1874d942b0b92ffff8a2dffffe415.pdf |date=2016-04-21 }} Retrieved October 5, 2016 In 2019, he was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.{{cite web |title=Jimmy Takter |url=https://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/2019/04/11/jimmy-takter/ |website=Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame |access-date=25 April 2019}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takter, Jimmy}}
Category:American horse trainers
Category:Dan Patch Award winners
Category:United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Harness racing in the United States
Category:People from East Windsor, New Jersey
Category:Swedish emigrants to the United States