In this week’s issue of Rewind, Robert Smith recalls the long and highly successful career of the late, great, all-around horseman Robert “Bob” Farrington. This is the second and concluding piece on this U.S. Hall of Fame horseman.
After entering harness racing on a full-time basis in 1955, Bob Farrington’s rise to the top was “meteoric,” as the old saying goes. He went rapidly from his original occupation as a brick mason to a nationally recognized horseman in record time. On April 26, 1967, he became just the fourth North American driver to win 2,000 career races. He was in good company.
His predecessors to that lofty goal were Billy Haughton, Joe O’Brien, and Stanley Dancer. Their journeys to the magical 2,000 mark took 22, 27, and 21 years, respectively. Farrington accomplished it early, in just his 13th year of racing. Before reaching the 2,000 mark, he turned in some amazing numbers.
(Photo courtesy of Harness Horse)
He won the national race-winning championship in five of the previous six years, establishing records many times. In 1961, he became the first North American driver to reach the 200 mark in seasonal wins with 201. The following year, he upped his total just slightly to 203. By 1964, he was achieving new levels as he became the first and only driver to record over 300 wins (to that point in time) when he closed the season with 312.
Bob, on the left, proudly shares the trophy he received in 1965 for his record-setting 312 trips to the winner’s circle. Next to him were Billy Haughton (222 wins), Ronnie Feagan (221 wins), and Gilles Lachance (209 wins). The longer racing season was providing the avenue to larger win totals. (Photo courtesy of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame)
His leading win totals continued in 1965 with 310 and 1966 with 306. These continually high win numbers eventually brought him to his 2,000 plateau.
Unlike the majority of inductees in the Goshen Hall of Fame, Farrington did not accumulate accolades for his performances in many of the sport’s highest-profile events, such as the Triple Crown races for three-year-old pacers or the fabled Hambletonian. I suspect that he did not ever compete in either the Little Brown Jug or the Hambo. He did, however, star on at least one Hambletonian Day.
When The Meadowlands track opened in 1976, Bob Farrington was among the original cast that occupied the backstretch. He seemed to have a knack for fitting in wherever he travelled, and most often at the upper level. Five years later, in 1981, when the Hambo moved to its new home at The Meadowlands, Bob and his most famous horse, Rambling Willie, had a special day as described below.
Earlier in the day, Rambling Willie captured the Veterans Pace from an outside post. The fabled 11-year-old gelding paced on the outside through the stretch to win by a neck from 10-year-old Mirror Image. Only horses nine years and older were invited to participate.
Bob Farrington, behind Rambling Willie, was on the outside in eighth place for most of the trip. To the cheers of the crowd, he made a dramatic dash that got him to the wire first; Yankee Paul got up for third.
No account of Bob Farrington’s long career would be complete without his most famous horse, Rambling Willie. They became the most popular, as well as the most accomplished, pair in the entire sport of harness racing. Literally everyone knew about them and wanted to see them, regardless of the venue.
Bob Farrington warming up Rambling Willie
Bob was about to retire when Rambling Willie came along, and together they became a winning combination, winning more races than any other horse in history (128) to that point. Willie was also the first horse to win more than $2,000,000. Bob and Rambling Willie went on a book tour across the United States promoting the book The Horse That God Loved. They visited 28 cities in 32 weeks and drew record-breaking crowds at each racetrack and shopping mall they attended.
Bob Farrington In Canada
In the late 1960s, Bob made one of his first trips to race in Canada when he was stabled at Windsor Raceway for a time. In the years that followed, he appeared on numerous occasions at Greenwood and enjoyed great success. He was a three-time winner of the Maple Leaf Trot, Canada’s premier trotting event. He took home the top prize in 1969, 1970, and 1971 with Grandpa Jim, owned by Mrs. Marie Trainor, racing as Trainor Acres. He was in the sulky for the first two wins, while his brother Dick won in 1971. Two of those three victories set new speed records for the event.
The great trotter Grandpa Jim and driver Bob Farrington. This horse won the MLT three years in a row — 1969, 1970, and 1971.
He was also tremendously successful in the Canadian Pacing Derby, our country’s top aged pacing event for many years. He and Rambling Willie were three-time winners of that annual classic as well, once in a dead heat with Pickwick Baron in 1975. He was the outright winner in both 1976 and 1977.
While most of Rambling Willie’s trips to Canada were for high-stakes events, there was one notable visit that saw this memorable performer here for a different reason. While “Willie” was on Canadian soil for health reasons at the renowned Dr. McKibbin’s clinic in Wheatley, Ont., permission was granted by Farrington and his connections to have him appear at Dresden Raceway.
This event was covered in an earlier Rewind in 2017.
Rambling Willie is shown trackside at Dresden Raceway in a special guest appearance arranged by Dr. Lloyd McKibbin, DVM.
Willie continued to race for another three seasons following this visit to Dresden, and his time was not wasted. Despite his many woes, he trudged on and added many more dollars to his own bank account, and therefore continued to help out his church members as well. In 1983, at the age of 13, the old warrior retired from the racing world and took up residence at the Kentucky Horse Park, where he lived out his days, passing away at the ripe old age of 25 in 1995.
In 1983, Rambling Willie went out like a true champion as he took his 128th lifetime win — the last of his career.
In October 2014, Bob Farrington passed away at his residence in Florida. He was 85 years of age and lived a long and productive life, doing what he loved best. He was welcomed wherever he travelled. He was survived by his wife Vivian of 65 years, as well as his only child, daughter Karen Sue, and his three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
In his obituary, a short portion said a lot about him: “He never met a stranger and loved his family.”
Quote for the Week: A very well-known horseman was once asked, “If you were entered in a big race and could choose your own post position, what number would you pick?”
After a short pause, he said, “I’d take number two — and with a quarter-mile head start!”
Who is credited with saying that?
Who Is It?
Can you identify the two folks on the left? They were greeted at Pompano Park by Public Relations V.P. Allen Finkelson, John Berry, and Domenic Frinzi. If you care to take a wild guess at the identity of the horse, please do so.
Who Else Is It?
Can you identify any or all of the personalities in this great old photo? Some good lookers here. (Photo from Northeast Harness News).
(The correct answers will be posted here by Robert as a comment in a few days.)