Canada’s “Magic Man” turns 24 (Celsius)

One of the most celebrated harness racing horsemen in history celebrates birthday number 75 on May 4.

Yes, the “Magic Man,” Bill O’Donnell reaches this milestone day with credentials that are etched in stone, the record books and, of course, in two Halls of Fame—The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and Goshen, New York’s Trotting Museum and Hall of Fame.

Actually, it’s THREE Halls of Fame.

He is also an inductee of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary, Alberta, Canada hosting the greatest sports professionals encompassing ALL of sport and one of a very few horsemen to be so honored, including greats John Campbell, Keith Waples, Herve Filion and Joe O’Brien

Born In Spring Hill, Nova Scotia, Canada, hardly a small “goosebump” on any map, the town was known for coal mining with one of its employees being Bill’s father, Henny.

There were two separate mining disasters in Spring Hill, the first in 1956 where there were 39 killed and the second in 1958 where 75 miners died forcing the family to move further east.

Bill wound up in Sydney Mines which he once described, “isn’t even on the map,” where he graduated high school.

Of course, mining wasn’t the only industry up in Nova Scotia territory—harness racing was big, too—and one of the great connections up in Nova Scotia land was a friendship between Henny and Joe Hennessey, Wally Hennessey’s dad, and the O’Donnell-Hennessey family friendship has stretched all this time — “like 75 years,” lamented Wally.

Learning the trade “bit-by-bit,” as he hung out in the different stables, one day, while visiting the Bill Doherty Stable (Bill being the brother of Jim Doherty), the phone rang, and they asked O’Donnell to “pick up the phone!”

Lo and behold, it was Jim Doherty calling and a conversation ensued with Doherty asking young O’Donnell if he’d like to “come to the States,” specifically New England.

That, in a nutshell, would be the beginning of history in the making.

“I never had any dreams of grandeur or making it big in the industry,” he admitted, “I just kept plugging away and learned as much as I could from a great horseman—Jimmy Doherty—and decided to give it a try on my own.”

O’Donnell wound up at Saratoga and up-ended perennial champion Jean-Paul Morel in 1978 while bursting into the top 10 nationally in wins (fifth with 324).

That was the beginning of a string of seasons continually in the 1op 10 while eventually traveling about 180 miles due south to the pinnacle of harness racing tracks, The Meadowlands, to try and ply his trade against the very best horsemen and horses in the world.

His meteoric rise in the sport resulted in a “Don Rickles style roast” with one “roaster” cracking, “yes, they call him the ‘Magic Man’ because he can make his ‘catch drives’ disappear in a hurry!”

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

O’Donnell became one of the most sought-after catch drivers in harness racing with the ultimate compliment being when the iconic Billy Haughton named O’Donnell to drive Nihilator in the $2,161,000 Woodrow Wilson Pace in 1984, which he won in 1:52.4.

He became the first driver in win $10,000,000 in purse money in a single season (1985) …this after only three seasons when he became the first to win $5,000,000.

He’s won every major stakes event from “A” to “Z”—American Pacing Classic to Zweig Memorial—and his list of champions, likewise, stretches (almost) from “A” to “Z,” as well, with Artsplace, Barberry Spur, Cambest, Delmegan, Emlen Kosmos, Fancy Crown, Genghis Khan, Hit The Bid, Imageofa Clear Day, Jamuga, Key Lime, Laag, Maeling Hanover, Nihilator, Odds Against, Prakas, Redskin, Staying Together, Troublemaker, Uptown Swell, Valley Victory, Witsends Cinny and Yentas Iceman just a few of well over 200 credits.

Just like there were “8,000,000 stories” on the television show from back years ago, there are probably that many about Bill O’Donnell with longtime horsemen and friends Fred Grant and John Campbell fondly reminiscing the “O’Donnell legacy.”

Grant, one of the leading trainers of our grand sport, won, probably, 500 races at The Meadowlands during his prime years and Bill O’Donnell was in the sulky, probably, for at least 400 of them.

Grant said, “He was the coolest driver I have ever seen or known. I mean, between races, he was so cool that he could take a short nap in the paddock. Absolutely nothing bothered him.

“But I will say he had a tendency of being late on many an occasion.

“One night, he got his usual late start and was rushing on the turnpike—and it can get pretty hectic near exit 16W—and he was pulled over for speeding by the State Trooper.

“The cop went up to Billy’s car and asked for the usual, ‘license and registration, please!’

“Bill gave him all the stuff and the cop came back and said, ‘Say, are you the harness racing driver?’

“Bill said ‘yes,’ that’s me…and the cop said, ‘You know, I go to The Meadowlands all the time and I always wanted to meet you.’

To which O’Donnell said, “Well, I wanted to meet you, too, so I got here as fast as I could!”

Grant also said that Bill O’Donnell had a very keen eye for horses relating, “One early fall day in 1984, a guy came up to my stable and asked if I could take a horse for him.

“I told him I didn’t have any room at the time, but the guy said, ‘I think he’s going to be a good three-year-old next season.’

“I sent him on his way with the promise that I would contact him if something opened up!”

“I called Bill and told him about it and he asked the guy’s name. I told him and he yelled over the phone…’GRAB THAT GUY AND DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY! HE OWNS THAT MARKIM’S PRIDE AND HE’LL WIN THE NEW JERSEY CLASSIC NEXT YEAR!’

“I ran out to the guy’s car and stopped him as he was pulling away and told him I’d take the horse.

“And he won the $500,000 New Jersey Classic that next season!”

In their prime years, Bill O’Donnell and John Campbell were considered to have the most lethal “one-two” punch at The Big M and on the Grand Circuit and often traveled together when competing on the big show with Campbell lamenting a tale when the two were traveling to Delaware, Ohio for The Little Brown Jug.

“Yeah, we were always going to the same races on the Grand Circuit,” Campbell said. “But Bill was never a real good planner as far as hotel rooms or just thinking ahead.

“The first year he went to the Jug, all he brought was a summer suit (driver’s colors) and, if anyone knows anything about Delaware, Ohio in the fall, it might be 40 degrees or it might be 90 degrees.

“Well, this particular year, it was really cold—in the 40’s—and Bill froze his (pardon me) ass off for the whole three days.

“The next year, all he brought was his insulated summer-fall suit and it was around 90 degrees and he had to wear that for two days!”

“I can still see him walking around with sweat running down his face. I mean his face was beet red.

“From then on, he brought ALL his suits to the Jug.

“One other incident occurred when our oldest two girls were, maybe, two and four years-old and all they cared about was getting a picture in the winner’s circle.

“I couldn’t win a race and Bill won the last race and my wife, Paula, brought the kids into the winner’s circle to get a picture taken.

“The kids were driving her crazy about getting their picture taken and Paula said, ‘no matter who wins, I’m going to get that picture taken!”

“When she got into the winner’s circle with Bill, she said to him “DON’T ASK!”

“When Bill came back to the locker room, he asked me about it…and we were laughing so hard…the tears, man…the tears!

Finally, when Bill decided to hang up his silks for good, someone asked him when he knew that it was time to retire.

His answer…”Just go into the race office and pick up the overnight sheet. If your name is not listed anywhere, it’s time to retire.”

How true!

Happy birthday (and EVERY DAY), Bill.

May The Horse Be With You!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink