Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Trained by Erv Miller & driven by Brian Sears, Andy Miller & Mark MacDonald

Co-owner Mike Gulotta, 57, bought Lis Mara for his partners--New Jerseyans John Jarka of Florham Park, James Hess of Hillsboro and Otis Ray of Somerset --for $245,000 for their 70 percent interest in Lis Mara while original owner, Louis “Andy” Willinger of Louisville, Kentucky, retained 30 percent.  Gulotta is chairman of the Chicago-based Aon Consulting USA, an insurance brokerage and human resource consulting business.

“When I called Erv (trainer Miller) to look at the horse, he was actually a few miles away from the horse in Canada,” Gulotta said. “He was going to leave that afternoon. He just had enough time to go over and look at the horse, and he called me later and said Mike, ‘you need to own this horse. He’s never said that before. Erv is very understated, very humble and quiet. He liked the way he was made.”

“Hess, Jarka and Ray – we’ve been co-workers for as long as 30 years,” noted Gulotta. “We’re four actuaries. We met in business and got interested in the horses. We started in claiming, then went to yearling sales, and bought Worldly Beauty--who earned $1.9 million."

Mara sizzled to victory equaling the track and world record of 1:47.3 in the 2006 $500,000 Breeder Crown Open Pace for aged pacers besting rival Holborn Hanoer by a length and a half.   The clocking matched the record for 4-year-olds established on June 22, 1996 by Jenna’s Beach Boy. It was a fifth of a second off the fastest mile of all time, 1:47.2, set by Primetime Bobcat on May 13, 2006 at Woodbine.   The fractions for the mile, a stakes record, were 25.2 to the quarter, 52.2 to the half and 1:20.2 to the three-quarters.

In 2006 he also won the $830,370 Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk on June 24 and finished second to Holborn Hanover in the $203,000 American National Final on August 26 at Balmoral Park. His record was enough to earn him the title of Older Pacer of the Year for 2006.

Now 5, Lis Mara, has over $1.4 million in earnings thanks to his 20th career victory in the $85,000 second leg of the Pacing Classic on May 5 at the Meadowlands. He paced the mile in 1:49 flat, three ticks off his 1:48.2 season’s opener on April 28. More recently, he scored a rousing 1:47.4 victory in his $50,000 Haughton Elimination on June 30 at The Big M.

Lis Mara's group donates a portion of his racing earnings to build houses for the poor in Haiti and to help care for retired Standardbreds.

“We’re donate a percentage of his earnings to the Standardbred Retirement Foundation and have also pledged a lifetime breeding to the SRF,” Gulotta said. “And through Food for the Poor in Haiti, he’s built nine houses – and they named the street Lis Mara Drive in Port O Prince. They sent us a picture of the street name.

Lis Mara's Career Statistics as of July 1, 2007
Year    Starts/Wins/2nds/3rds   Earnings    Record/Track/Date
2007       7        5         1       0      $321,450      5, 1:47.4M   M 06/30/2007
2006      17      10        5        1      $967,485      4, 1:47.3M M 07/29/2006
2005      20       7        5       3      $175,089       3, 1:51.4S   Wdb 04/29/2005
2004      9         1        1       0      $5,447        2, 1:59.3H   GRvr 08/09/2004
Total    53        23      12      4       $1,469,471   4, 1:47.3M