The Horse That God Loved

Many would agree that the sight of a stakes race on a major TV network is welcome and good for the sport. But it takes a special kind of horse to be invited as a guest on a late night talk show segment.

He was “The Horse That God Loved”, and his name was Rambling Willie. Born 50 years ago today (April 18, 1970) in Monroeville, Indiana, Rambling Willie was a true superstar of harness racing in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the time of his retirement in 1983 he was the leading Standardbred money winner of all time with more than $2 million earned, and most of his wins coming from overnight and invitational races. The winner of 128 races in 305 starts, Rambling Willie was a three-time winner of the Canadian Pacing Derby -- 1975 in a dead heat with Pickwick Baron, 1976 and 1977.

A $15,000 purchase by trainer/driver Bob Farrington, ownership was later split between Bob’s wife Vivian and Paul Seibert. Mrs. Farrington in turn pledged 10% of Willie’s earnings to the church where her father served as pastor, earning the gelding the nickname “The Horse That God Loved”. In 1981 a book titled with that nickname was published. Willie and his connections did a promotional tour that included races in 17 cities and appearances on television shows including 60 Minutes and The Merv Griffin Show, the equivalent to appearing on the shows of Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon today.

Following his retirement from racing in 1983, Willie moved to the Kentucky Horse Park where he resided until his passing in 1995, when he was buried near his paddock at the Hall of Champions. Rambling Willie was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the Indiana Standardbred Hall of Fame in 2003.

Robin Cruise is the niece of the late Bob Farrington, and fondly recalled Rambling Willie's desire to win and a special bond he had with her aunt Vivian.

"One thing that I can remember about Willie was he knew my aunt Viv," Cruise recently told Trot Insider. "When she would come to the barn -- she never worked in the barn, she just did the books and whatnot -- but when she came to the barn his whole presence changed. She always fed him peppermints. She would go down to see him in the paddock and pet before a race and she always said she knew how he was going to do, but never told anyone. She just had that read; it was kind of a special thing that they had between them."

A small piece of history was revealed earlier this week that might surprise some people about Rambling Willie. As a two-year-old, Willie finished second in three of four starts at Indiana county fairs but got his start in Ohio. This matinee race program from the Mercer County Harness Horsemen's Association shows Rambling Willie in action on Mother's Day -- May 14, 1972. According to the chart, he finished fifth in a mile timed in 2:23.1. Many thanks to Rusty Voorhees for sharing.

After Rambling Willie's passing, Bob Farrington was asked what he had seen in the star pacer that others missed during the early part of his career. Farrington replied, "The most important thing about a racehorse, you can't see."

Rambling Willie will join driver Paul MacDonell, trainer Ben Wallace, male horse McWicked and female horse Amour Angus in the Standardbred wing of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2020.