A talk with Odell Thompson

It’s 60 years that my first scripture appeared in the late Horseman and Fair World Magazine…the week Pompano Park opened putting the City of Pompano Beach “on the map,” as they say.

That grand weekly magazine, along with the Harness Horse, Hub Rail, Harness World and so many other publications about our grand sport, are long gone now…and so are the many racetracks that have bitten the dust over the years…disappearing right before our eyes with little resistance as the lottery…and casinos…and land values…and sports betting…and the power of the political dollar keep pounding our sport into future oblivion.

I’ve been blessed to see the greatest of the great horses compete since my first REAL encounter at Sportsman’s Park on August 22, 1959.

From Su Mac Lad to Niatross to Nihilator to Moni Maker…from Scotsdam, the author of the slowest winning pari-mutuel mile in history—3:38 3/5—to “4” claimers winning in 1:52 and a piece…I have witnessed  a lot.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak with some of the greatest horsemen and women in the world…in my eyes, anyhow.

From Edgar Leonard to Frank Ervin to Curly Smart, Stanley and two great Billy’s—Haughton and O’Donnell…I have been fortunate enough to become friends with them and 1,000 more.  Lew Williams comes to mind, as well…Jim Doherty…Charlie Goins…Bob Farrington…Bob Williams…Wally Hennessey…Mickey McNichol…Mike Murphy…Lou Rapone…like I said, 1,000 more…

I’ve had the honor of being in the company of the famous and not-so-famous…but they were—and are—famous in these eyes.

Each had a wisdom—not necessarily a wisdom compared to Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking—but a wisdom of what matters to us involved in harness racing.

One gentleman, with whom I have been friends for countless years is about to enter his 90th year—over 80 of those years with horses—Odell Thompson.

No, you won’t see Odell’s name in Goshen, New York’s Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame but, in my eyes, he possesses a wisdom garnered through his 84 years involved with our four-legged family friends.

In speaking with Hall of Fame horseman Wally Hennessey, we got to talking, very fondly, of course, about Odell and Wally was reiterating what we know about this horseman and gentleman…and gentle man.

“You will never find a man as soft-spoken and humble and with the patience of Odell Thompson,” Wally lamented. “His character in un-flawed. He values life, itself, and takes each moment one stride at a time.

“When I’d do catch-driving for him, I’d get to the paddock as he’d always give me a hint on how the horse is going into the race. He’d say, ‘He’ll be good tonight…or, on some occasions he’d say ‘He’ll be REALLY GOOD tonight.’”

With all that said, that one statement seemed served as the catalyst for an interview with a legend in my eyes…Odell Thompson.

JB: Odell, thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed. You are a treasure to our sport and, while you might not have a degree from Harvard of Yale, you have a wisdom that is very rare in today’s world.

Odell: Thank you John, you don’t know how much I appreciate you inviting me to be interviewed. It’s something I never expected.

JB: You probably don’t realize the number of horsemen and women that applaud your knowledge. How did it all get started?

Odell: Well, I was born in Bay Springs, Mississippi. It’s a small town—or it was way back then in 1935. We lived in a modest house and, by the time I was seven or eight, was working on a farm.

JB: No school?

Odell: Yes, we had a school, Bay Springs Vocational, but I had to help support the family back in those days. I did get to the seventh grade…couldn’t read or write too well…but we did what we had to do to survive.

JB: What about your folks?

Odell: I had a wonderful father and mother—Hughie and Evalina—and they were wonderful parents. They were church-goers and taught me right from wrong very early in life. If I had a question on what was right and wrong, my dad would say, “If you’d like to see it on the front page of a newspaper, it’s good. If you wouldn’t, it’s bad!” I’ve lived that all my life.

JB: I think Bye Bye Byrd’s dam was Evalina Hanover. I now wonder if Bye Bye Byrd’s mama was named in honor of your mama.

Odell: Never thought of that!

JB: So what kind of work did you do at age seven or eight?

Odell: I took care of the horses on the farm. The farm raised horses, cattle, hogs and chickens and when the whistle started blowing at noon, I would take the horses to the watering hole to drink as much water as they wanted and then I’d bring them back to the stall and give them their lunch, which was 12 ears of corn. They all had three square meals a day—-the horses did—with water and 12 ears of corn for breakfast and lunch with some hay at dinner time.

JB: How much were you making working as a seven and eight year-old on the farm?

Odell: I made $1.00 a day…and was happy to get it. Dad worked there, too, and he made $6.00 a day.

JB: How long did you work on the farm?

Odell: Until I was 18…then my sister, Pauline, got me up to Detroit and I went to work for Midland Steel on an assembly line and made $10.00 an hour but they laid me off just before the 90 day rule went into effect guaranteeing me a job.

JB: After that?

Odell: I got a job at a grocery store as a ‘stocker,’ and, after that, was lucky enough to get a job with George Goveia.

JB: Pretty good horsemen—George and Herb. I’m familiar with them form the midwest.

Odell: That was at Wolverine Raceway. I was only with him a short time and then got a job with C. M. Saunders and that’s where I really learned to train horses…and not just be a groom…in that stable. He had some pretty good stock back then…General Knox…Loverboynik…lotsa others. Ted Taylor was his driver and, boy, he sure could make a horse “GO!” He had the hands!

JB: But didn’t you get to Chicago, as well?

Odell: Oh, yes. We did the circuit there…Washington Park, Maywood, Sportsman’s…great circuit to race with top drivers and trainers.

JB: You worked for O’Mara back then…

Odell: Yes, Frank O’Mara…great horseman…I say the cons…cons…

JB: Consummate?

Odell: That’s the word…Consummate…(first time saying that word!)

JB: He had some pretty good stock back then…Nite Shirt…Ira…both invitational trotters.

Odell: I remember one night at Sportsman’s back in the early ’60’s when he had come off of a win at big odds (16 to 1) and, the next week, they moved him up to the top class going for $10,000—great money back then. He had the rail and he was big odds again…and won in 2:01 and a piece at big odds again (17 to1). I made a few bucks that night. You remember things like that!

JB: I “BET” you do. Frank had some pretty good drivers with him in Chicago.

Odell: Yes, he did. Busse (Don), Louie (Rapone), Butch (Paisley), O’Brien, Jim Dennis, Gene Riegle, Chris Boring…all really great drivers…and most of them driver-trainers, something you don’t see much of today. These guys knew their horses from head to toe and nose to tail.

JB: Louie was a great “gate man!” He’ll be 99 in July…starting his 100th year!

Odell: Oh, man, he sure was, He probably didn’t weight 110 pounds but he was strong. He had a horse, Pole Adios, who was very fast but was a rowdy thing and had to be trained to a pick-up truck. He had a nice stable back then…but so did all them guys. It was a great circuit and the best went there to race.

JB: When did Florida come into play?

Odell: I came down to Florida, let’s see, right after they opened—maybe the next year. We raced at Tropical Park there, too, for a season. I worked for Brooks Wells for 29 years…a great person, Brooks Wells was.

JB: I remember him from Kentucky.

Odell: He was quite a gentleman who loved the game. He was in the real estate business and very involved in harness racing.

JB: I think he was involved in the Blooded Horse Sales Company…and a heck of an auctioneer. How did you get involved with Brooks.

Odell: Well, I was going to quit the horse business and try and find something that paid some decent money. My last trip was taking a load to The Red Mile and I stopped by and had a chat with a guy named Homer Ballard.

JB: Ballard’s Boy…a very good horse.

Odell: Gee, you ARE getting old!

JB: And glad to be getting old!

Odell: Homer told me that he didn’t need anybody but he sent me down to the last barn at The Red Mile to see this guy Brooks Wells. He said that he had just hired a guy but he was away for a week and I could have the job for a week and, if the other guy didn’t come back, I could have the job for good…$75 a week…great money to start…and that lasted 29 years.

JB: Any good horses with Brooks?

Odell: Heather Jim and First Fiddler…For the most part, though, Brooks bought them cheap at the sale and I tried to make something out of them. Let me tell you, you learn much more the way we had to do it by taking care of the problems and nursing them back to the track than having a costly yearling and slapping the hobbles on them (pacing or trotting) and starting from the first day.

JB: Brooks made it to 90 years but I understand he had a tough time in his final days.

Odell: Yes, that, too. He had been ill for some time with that memory disease (Alzheiner’s) and I was talking with Jay Sears and Brooks name came up and I said that I wanted to go see him. Jay advised me NOT to go because he was in bad shape and wouldn’t know me. I decided that wouldn’t stop me from going to Ashland (Kentucky) to see him and, when I got there to the care hospital, I went up to his room and he was eating. When he saw me, he perked up and yelled, “ODELL!” Talk about a special moment in my life, THAT WAS IT!”

JB: Let me backtrack a bit to what Wally send earlier about a horse being “REALLY GOOD!”

Odell: I never had any of those great bred horses that are $200,000 yearlings…I never had that, I had ordinary horses, for the most part, and some weren’t even ordinary. Horses aren’t machines. Sometimes they feel good and sometimes they feel bad. Horses understand voices and a few words and they are athletes. When race day comes, you never know if they are feeling great, good, fair or not-so-good. It takes a keen sense to know and, over the 80 years I’ve been with them, I have developed a sense that, by just being with them every day, you know every habit they have and every hint they give you. What Wally was talking’ about was when a horse seemed to have a REAL good training week and was acting real good, I could feel that. That’s what REALLY GOOD meant when we were going to race.

JB: Odell, you are a treasured friend to me and a treasure to harness racing and I thank you so allowing me the courtesy of interviewing someone as great as you!

MAY THE HORSE BE WITH YOU

by John Berry, for Harnesslink