Hubert "Sonny" Hine
Hubert "Sonny" Hine lived in Bedford until graduation from high school in 1948. He played football and basketball, and learned much about horses and caring for them working for his father, Art Hine. Summers, he followed the Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland race circuits, which included stops at Cumberland. He was a hot walker, a groom, and learned training. He had his first winner, Miss Economy, at an early age. Following a stint at the FBI, thanks to his childhood racetrack friendship with J. Edgar Hoover.
Hine enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Yale to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese, which he used in clandestine intelligence work. He never spoke of his experiences, but was in mainland China and across the lines in Korea during the Korean conflict.
In 1957, Hine began a career that would include training 46 stakes winners and posthumous induction into the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame in 2003. His horses won a total of $28,805,000 in purses.
His greatest achievement was the 1998 horse of the year, Skip Away. The horse was Hine's $22,500 birthday gift to his wife, Carolyn. Skip Away won the Eclipse Award as the 3-year-old horse of the year in 1996 and two years later, the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Skip Away finished with 16 career stakes victories and earned more than $9.6 million. That total was second only to the almost $10 million won by his great rival, Cigar.
The Daily Racing Form said "Sonny Hine said he had the best horse in the country and he put his money where his mouth was to prove it by supplementing the gray colt to the Breeders Cup Classic for $480,000. Skip Away justified Sonny s confidence by blowing away the competition." And owner Carolyn won a record purse of $2,288,000.
In 1998, Skip Away logged victories in the Donn Handicap, the Gulfstream Park Handicap, the Pimlico Special, the Massachusetts Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup, the Philip H. Iselin Stakes and the Woodward Stakes. He finished the year by winning the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.
When Hine, whose given name was Hubert, became ill with cancer in Florida in 2000, doctors said there was a procedure that offered a good chance of extending his life, Carolyn Hine said. Perhaps he would have been alive to accept his honor in person if he had gone along, she said.
"But it would mean giving up the horse business, she said. "Despite my begging him otherwise, Sonny elected to continue training. He gave his life to the only life he had ever known."
Sonny Hine was best known for training Skip Away, Horse of the Year in 1998, but his career began decades earlier. He began running horses late in the 1940s and turned to full time training on the Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland circuit in 1957. Hine trained his first stakes winner, Softly, in 1972. Winner of the Tri-State Futurity, Softly was the first of many stakes winners. Other great horses included Amber Pass, winner of the Monmouth Park Handicap; Bet Big, winner of the Patterson and the Carter; Norquestor, winner of the Pegasus, Technology, winner of the Florida Derby, Tropical Park Derby and the Haskell; and Guilty Conscience, sprint champion in 1981.
Sonny won 1305 races during his career, of which 126 were stakes races, 54 of them graded. Sonny Hine was inducted into the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame in 2003.
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Hubert "Sonny" Hine lived in Bedford until graduation from high school in 1948. He played football and basketball, and learned much about horses and caring for them working for his father, Art Hine. Summers, he followed the Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland race circuits, which included stops at Cumberland. He was a hot walker, a groom, and learned training. He had his first winner, Miss Economy, at an early age. Following a stint at the FBI, thanks to his childhood racetrack friendship with J. Edgar Hoover.
Hine enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Yale to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese, which he used in clandestine intelligence work. He never spoke of his experiences, but was in mainland China and across the lines in Korea during the Korean conflict.
In 1957, Hine began a career that would include training 46 stakes winners and posthumous induction into the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame in 2003. His horses won a total of $28,805,000 in purses.
His greatest achievement was the 1998 horse of the year, Skip Away. The horse was Hine's $22,500 birthday gift to his wife, Carolyn. Skip Away won the Eclipse Award as the 3-year-old horse of the year in 1996 and two years later, the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Skip Away finished with 16 career stakes victories and earned more than $9.6 million. That total was second only to the almost $10 million won by his great rival, Cigar.
The Daily Racing Form said "Sonny Hine said he had the best horse in the country and he put his money where his mouth was to prove it by supplementing the gray colt to the Breeders Cup Classic for $480,000. Skip Away justified Sonny s confidence by blowing away the competition." And owner Carolyn won a record purse of $2,288,000.
In 1998, Skip Away logged victories in the Donn Handicap, the Gulfstream Park Handicap, the Pimlico Special, the Massachusetts Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup, the Philip H. Iselin Stakes and the Woodward Stakes. He finished the year by winning the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.
When Hine, whose given name was Hubert, became ill with cancer in Florida in 2000, doctors said there was a procedure that offered a good chance of extending his life, Carolyn Hine said. Perhaps he would have been alive to accept his honor in person if he had gone along, she said.
"But it would mean giving up the horse business, she said. "Despite my begging him otherwise, Sonny elected to continue training. He gave his life to the only life he had ever known."
Sonny Hine was best known for training Skip Away, Horse of the Year in 1998, but his career began decades earlier. He began running horses late in the 1940s and turned to full time training on the Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland circuit in 1957. Hine trained his first stakes winner, Softly, in 1972. Winner of the Tri-State Futurity, Softly was the first of many stakes winners. Other great horses included Amber Pass, winner of the Monmouth Park Handicap; Bet Big, winner of the Patterson and the Carter; Norquestor, winner of the Pegasus, Technology, winner of the Florida Derby, Tropical Park Derby and the Haskell; and Guilty Conscience, sprint champion in 1981.
Sonny won 1305 races during his career, of which 126 were stakes races, 54 of them graded. Sonny Hine was inducted into the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame in 2003.
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Class of 2010
Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Class of 2010
Class of 2010