Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Driver of the Month
for January 2012

Bill O'Donnell

Bill O'Donnell, a native of Springhill, N.S., was born into harness racing in 1948. With his parents being longtime fixtures of racing in the Maritimes, it was only natural that Bill would gravitate to the sport.

Bill O'Donnell

After graduation from high school, O'Donnell journeyed to New England where he worked for Jim Doherty. In 1979 he moved on to Saratoga, N.Y., where he took horsemen by storm, setting a record for most winners at one track in a single season with 279 wins.

Nicknamed "Magic" for his innate ability to get the most from his horses, O'Donnell's talent was in constant demand. To attest to this, U.S. Hall of Fame driving great, Bill Haughton, took himself off world champion Nihilator so that he could have the "Magic Man" drive the precocious freshman pacer.

In 1984 O'Donnell took his "Magic" show to The Meadowlands in New Jersey and the Grand Circuit. En route to being named Harness Tracks of America's "Driver of the Year" in 1984 with record setting earnings of $9,059,184 for a single season, O'Donnell confirmed himself as one of the sport's all-time premier drivers. In August of that year, O'Donnell experienced his single greatest day in the business. In the morning he set a world record while driving trotting filly Fancy Crown at Springfield, Illinois. She later earned Horse of the Year honors that season.

He then flew to New Jersey where he won the Woodrow Wilson with Nihilator for a purse of $2.16 million, which at the time was the richest payout in harness racing history. The following year he became the sport's first $10 million man while driving both Nihilator and three-year-old champion colt trotter Prakas to single-season money-winning records. Prakas won The Hambletonian. Nihilator was Horse of the Year. The brilliant son of Niatross won 23 of 25 starts, capturing every major stake offered and setting a then world record of 1:49.3 score at The Meadowlands.

O'Donnell earned the reputation of excelling with trotters, even though he drove the fastest pacer ever - Cambest - in a1:46.1 time trial in 1993.

"It's too tough driving three or four horses a week and competing against drivers who drive eight or 10 a night. You can't stay sharp doing that. I should know, I did it for years," said the 52-year-old O'Donnell in an interview in The Canadian Sportsman in 1999. "For now I'll drive a couple of trotters I have and put someone else up to drive in the pacing races. It's a young man's game out there for pacers."

Among the numerous horse of the year or divisional champions that O'Donnell steered to victory are Little Brown Jug and Cane Pace champion Barberry Spur; Governor's Cup and Presidential Pace winner Redskin; Camtastic, Valley Victory, Sweet Reflection, Cayster, Delinquent Account and Canadian Pacing Derby winners Artsplace and Staying Together, who also won the Breeders Crown.

He has driven almost 5,700 winners with earnings of more than $97 million and trained another 94 winners. After 25 years racing in the U.S., O'Donnell returned home to his Canadian roots in 2001 to resume his driving career north of the border, building a house and establishing a farm near Acton, Ont. He also began to train a small stable of horses. For all the spectacular things he accomplished on the track, Bill O'Donnell will forever be known as one of the best there ever was. He is also a member of the U.S. Hall of Fame at Goshen, N.Y

Bill O'Donnell's Career Statistics as of January 1, 2012
Year    Starts/Wins/2nds/3rds   Earnings       UDRS
2010      115        15     14      14      $214,706        0.239
2009      176        14     30      25      $313,972        0.222
2008      284        29     37      36      $628,129        0.217
2007      258        20     22      38      $715,076        0.174
2006      218        24    29      25      $691,677       0.222
2005      228        21     34      24      $413,076        0.210
2004      270        39    29      31      $534,208        0.242
2003      91          7       6       15      $139,975        0.168
2002      122        9       10      19      $118,864        0.171
2001      689        51     75      69      $1,586,857     0.168
2000      367        35     48      57      $470,108        0.220
1999      452        37    40      52      $801,181         0.169
1998      931       82    84      84      $1,382,556      0.168
1997      1013      103 107   101     $2,276,268      0.194
1996      1227      147 136   145     $3,864,117      0.221
1995      1163      139 126   128     $2,804,411      0.216
1994      1211      139   117    136     $2,798,670      0.206
1993      920        125   92       88      $3,205,762      0.223
1992      997        115 101     97      $1,915,111      0.204
1991      1321      156   141    131      $2,553,896      0.210
1990      1806      239 213   223      $4,286,721      0.239
1989      1707      244   216   180      $4,881,195      0.248
1988      1688      292   212    201      $7,113,213      0.282
1987      2117      385   302    254      $7,867,525      0.301
1986      1896      319   292    230      $8,400,472      0.294
1985      2440      419   354    291      $10,207,372    0.292
1984      2160      422   328    281      $9,059,184      0.323
1983      2045      404   308    290      $5,818,709      0.328
1982      1935      339 322    259      $5,755,067      0.312
1981      1886      302 279   252      $4,156,608      0.287
1980      1046      157 151   146      $1,754,397      0.277
1979      1357      323   218    196      $681,854         0.375
1978      1495      324   259    199      $532,666        0.357
1977      795        97    110     115      $202,672         0.247
Total                5,741                     $98,523,060