by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — If Twelve Seventeen wins tonight at Dover Downs, it will likely be a victory that owner Eric Schultz will never forget. The trotter, who was formerly a pacer, was named to memorialize the death of Schultz’s wife, Liz, in 2000. And for those who fail to remember today’s date, it’s twelve seventeen.

“I hope (Liz) helps him win,” said Schultz, an 85-year-old retired advertising broker who lives in Cromwell, Connecticut. The Schultzes were married for 34 years. “Oh my, that would be great.”

Twelve Seventeen, trained and driven by Jack Parker Jr. — who is Schultz’s former son-in-law, will start from post eight in the eighth race at Dover. He is 10-1 in the morning line. So far this year, the gelded son of Falcons Future-Dime A Dip has won six of 38 races and earned $72,484.

He has won more than $100,000 on both the pace and the trot and is a double-gaited world champion on five-eighth and half-mile ovals. He has a mark of 1:53.4 as a pacer, taken at Dover Downs, and a mark of 1:54.4 as a trotter, taken at the Meadowlands.

“I had a devil of a time getting him to learn how to pace, but once he learned, he took right off and was fine,” Parker said. “He was definitely a racehorse on the pace, but as a 5-year-old, he wasn’t racing very well. I was trying all kinds of things and couldn’t get it figured out. I was jogging him one day and someone jogging alongside me said the horse looked like a trotter.

“He didn’t get in at Pocono (Downs) that week, so I figured I would train him on the trot. We had some bumps in the road, but, knock on wood, he’s as safe a trotter as I’ve ever sat behind. He’s just been a pleasure. He’s very honest.”

Schultz bred Twelve Seventeen, which is the only horse he owns by himself; he shares ownership of several other horses with Parker. He started in harness racing after graduating from the University of California, where he played fullback and linebacker on football teams that twice reached the Rose Bowl (losing to Northwestern in 1949 and Ohio State in 1950) and were ranked among the top four nationally in the final Associated Press polls.

“Jacques Grenier, my former high school coach, got into harness racing and called me one day and said I’d just bought a horse,” Schultz said, laughing. “He was a great guy; he was a second father. It’s a lot of fun. It’s also a lot of heartbreaks sometimes, but it’s a great sport.”

Schultz jogged horses in his younger days, but never went any further with his involvement.

“None of that fast stuff,” he said, again laughing. “I don’t know how those guys stay in those sulkies.”

Although he rarely gets to see his horses, Schultz continues to enjoy the sport.

“The more I went to the races and watched the horses work out, I just loved it,” he said. “And I still do.”