by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
Ken Weingartner
Freehold, NJ — Owen Eiler Jr. has high hopes for scoring a few wins when the Super Bowl Series for 4-year-old trotters begins this week at Meadowlands Racetrack.
Eiler, a Philadelphia police officer, trains a small stable of horses in southern New Jersey in his spare time. He will send out two mares, Dontevenknowmymame and Bee’s Knees, in the Super Bowl, which kicks off with five 10-horse divisions Thursday (Jan. 12).
The series continues Jan. 19 and concludes Jan. 26 with a $65,000 final.
Both of Eiler’s mares are relative newcomers to his stable. He purchased Dontevenknowmymame in September and she has picked up one win, five seconds and two thirds in nine starts, primarily at Harrah’s Chester, and earned $24,980. Bee’s Knees debuted in November for Eiler and has one win, two seconds and one third in five starts, all at Chester, and $16,425.
USTA/Ken Weingartner photos
Dontevenknowmymame finished third in her season’s debut this past Friday night at the Meadowlands.
Dontevenknowmymame finished third in a race Friday night at the Meadowlands, which marked her first trip around a track larger than five-eighths of a mile. Driven by regular pilot Eric Abbatiello, she lacked room in the stretch and finished one length behind winner Zumba Mouse.
“She’s been very, very good to me,” Eiler said. “I really think she fits the Super Bowl Series well. Her first race for me (last October) she was a little short, but since then I’ve never missed the board with her. She’s been good. She’s got a little gate speed.
“Eric Abbatiello has been doing a real good job with her. He gets along with her really well. He clicks with her.”
Eiler liked Dontevenknowmymame as soon as she arrived.
“You can tell when you sit behind them if they’re going to be good or they’re going to be so-so,” Eiler said. “You can tell their attitude around the barn, and she’s got a good attitude. I expect her to do really well in the series.”
Dontevenknowmymame was off for nearly three weeks prior to Friday’s start.
“Coming here with the banked turns and the one-mile track, with the Super Bowl starting on Thursday, it was a perfect warm-up race for her,” Abbatiello said. “She’s very consistent. She has enough gate speed. Owen did a good job with her and she’s a pleasure to drive.”
Bee’s Knees was last raced Dec. 21, finishing fourth after setting the early fractions. She trained at the Meadowlands in preparation for the Super Bowl.
“She’s a smaller horse, but consistent,” Abbatiello said. “She’s a little rammy, likes to pull, so she’ll probably be at or near the front. (Dontevenknowmymame) you can race either or, but she has gate speed, so you might as well use it and get position.”
Philadelphia police officer Owen Eiler Jr. will send a pair of trotters into the Super Bowl Series.
Following the Super Bowl, Eiler expects Bee’s Knees to race at Yonkers.
“She’s got a ton of speed and never makes a break,” he said. “She’s good gaited and I’m almost positive that she’ll get around a half (-mile track) good.”
Added Abbatiello, “Bee’s Knees is a sprinter, and sprinters are usually better on a shorter track. But we’ll see. Sometimes they jump up and surprise you.”
Eiler was introduced to harness racing by his father, who took him to Liberty Bell as a child. Soon after graduating from high school and beginning a career with the Philadelphia Police Department, Eiler got involved in the sport as an owner, and the desire to take a more active role simmered within him for more than two decades.
The 49-year-old Eiler got his trainer’s license in 2010 and last year won 14 of 126 starts and $173,507.
“I love the game,” Eiler said. “I can’t get enough of it. If it wasn’t for my job, I’d be fulltime training horses. It’s a great sport.”
Juggling two jobs is worth it to Eiler.
“The horses are such great animals and working with them is such a pleasure,” Eiler said. “When you win, it’s even more of a high. It’s just the greatest feeling in the world being in the winner’s circle.”
It’s a feeling he hopes to enjoy again in the upcoming weeks at the Meadowlands.
- Eiler on the move at Pompano Park (Tuesday, March 20, 2012)
The well-chronicled story of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Owen Eiler Jr. and his devotion to harness racing is having a new chapter added with the expansion of his Florida holdings in at The Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park.