by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Returning Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit is one of the big names racing Sunday (May 29) on a star-filled card at Harrah’s Philadelphia, but for longtime horseman Bill “Moon” Mullin and his family, the name attached to Wiggle It Jiggleit’s race is what will truly make the afternoon special.

A little over a month ago Mullin was told by the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association and Harrah’s Philadelphia that Sunday’s $200,000 free-for-all pace would be called the Dorothy “Moon” Mullin Invitational Pace in honor of his late mother.

This is the second year that the event will go with a rotating name to honor outstanding contributors and noteworthy figures from harness racing in the greater Delaware Valley. Special notice will go to those who impacted the Liberty Bell/Brandywine era.

Last year’s inaugural edition of the race was named in honor of prominent racehorse owner and attorney Jerry Taylor. This year, Dorothy Mullin certainly fits the criteria of the honoree.

PHHA/Harrah’s photo

Dorothy Mullin

Dorothy worked for all 23 years that Liberty Bell Park was in existence, from 1963-85, serving as executive assistant and secretary for the track’s Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission Office.

“This is really nice,” said Bill Mullin, who has enjoyed a successful harness racing career as a driver and trainer. “My whole family is coming, their kids and nieces, nephews. Everybody’s coming. It’s a nice honor.”

And what would Dorothy have thought of it?

“It would mean everything to her,” Mullin said. “She wouldn’t have expected it. She was very modest.”

And very beloved.

Dorothy’s husband was an old-time milkman, making deliveries throughout Philadelphia by horse and wagon. It was pretty good foreshadowing for a guy whose son would drive Standardbreds.

“My dad was actually into the Thoroughbreds,” Mullin said. “He had a lot of love for horses and he always made sure we had a horse. There were four kids, three boys and a girl, and we always had horses.”

Dorothy, who passed away in 2004 at the age of 91, took her job with Liberty Bell Park when she was 50. She became entrenched in her position, which garnered her a stable full of friends.

“She loved her job,” Bill said. “She was the last of the secretaries who took short-hand. That’s all gone now, but it helped her a lot. And she was just pretty good with the people. She really liked people and they liked her.”

Dorothy picked up her “Moon” nickname from a popular comic strip character, Moon Mullin. He was a guy, but somehow Dorothy was tagged with it.

“We’re all called that,” Bill said with a laugh. “I don’t know who gave it to her, but she was the first to get it.”

Influenced by his parents, Bill got into horse racing with Thoroughbreds and was hoping to be a jockey.

“Genetics-wise that didn’t work out,” Mullin said. “I’m 5-10, I’ve got a brother whose 6-5, so that just wasn’t going to happen.”

He turned to harness racing and won training and driving titles at Pocono Downs, which is now called The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

“I drove for a lot of years, had a decent career,” Bill said. “We can do everything (drive and train) with the harness racing.”

Bill, who lives in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., is happy his mom’s name is being recognized at Harrah’s Philadelphia as he has had some success there over the years.

Highlighting the Mullin Invitational entries is Wiggle It Jiggleit, who is again the No. 1-ranked horse in harness racing. Wiggle It Jiggleit has won five of eight races this year and finished no worse than second in any start. He enters Sunday’s race off a track-record 1:49.4 win in the Battle of Lake Erie at Northfield Park.

The field also includes Rockin Ron, who handed Wiggle It Jiggleit one of his defeats this season by winning the Confederation Cup with a Canadian-record performance, and New Zealand-import Bit Of A Legend, who earlier this year won the Levy Memorial Pacing Series championship.

Mullin was actually asked for ideas of who to name the free-for-all after, and his mom never even popped into his mind as modesty runs in the family.

“I didn’t even think of my mother,” he said. “But whoever does the voting asked me what I thought if they named it after her, and I said I’d be honored.”

Harrah’s Philadelphia was not built when Dorothy was alive, but her son feels she would enjoy the stage where her name is being recognized.

“I think she’d be delighted with it,” he said.