Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Personalitiy of the Month
January 2006

Walter Paisley

Born Berwyn, Illinois
March 10, 1941

Walter "Butch" Paisley was one of the most popular drivers in Chicago history and captured numerous stakes and driving titles at the Windy City Raceways, including the Maywood Park title on three separate occasions: in 1971 (51 wins), in 1979 (160 wins) and in 1983 (128 wins).

In 1981 Paisley represented the United States by competing in the World Driving Championships held in Norway, Finland, Germany & Italy.

Walter Paisley

Youngest Hambletonian Driver Ever
However, Paisley got noticed as a recent high school graduate, driving in one of the most prestigious races of all--the Hambletonian. The year was 1959 and Paisley found himself going to the gate with an obscurely-bred horse in harness racing's most prestigious event, the Hambletonian. The then 18-year-old Paisley, nicknamed "Butch" by his peers, sent Algiers Eblis postward from post position ten over DuQuoin's famed oval.

"The horse belonged to my father," Paisley recalled. "At the time Harry Burright, who did most of the driving of our horses, was set down. This horse didn't belong in the Hambletonian, but my dad had this dream of having a horse in the Hambo and had his mind set that I was goibng to drive him."

The entry fee for the 1959 Hambletonian was $2,000.

"That was the kind of money that it took to buy a car back then," Paisley mused. "It was a lot of money to us. I remember that in the Chicago newspapers, they had picked the horse dead last, at odds of 99-1. And that was before there were any kind of odds or wagering on the Hambletonian."

Algiers Eblis was a 1956 foal from the Volomite sire Algieres, out of the mare Astra Eblis, who lineage traced back to Scotland.

"My father bought Algiers Eblis at the old stockyards in downtown Chicago," Paisley said. "At the time, that's where they used to have the yearling sales. He was a big, good looking colt, and was imprsesive as a youngster."

As a three-year-old the rangy stud colt had already taken a mark of 2:08.1 over a five-eights mile track and would, later in the year, lower that time to 2:06.3 over a mile track for the Paisley family.

Prior to driving in the Hambletonian Paisley had donned his green and white silks on the Illinois county fair circuit and in a lone start at Sportsman's Park, then a five-eights mile oval.

"At the time, it was just when the drivers were starting to make the switch from the solf caps to the helmets," Paisley recalled. "It wasn't yet a mandatory rule, but my dad insisted that I wear a helmet. I didn't want to, because a lot of the "big" guys in harness racing back then weren't wearing them. But I wore it because I knew my father wasn't going to let me on the track without one."

Paisley found himself rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in harness racing at the time: Frank Ervin, Ralph Baldwin, Del Miller and a couple of guys from New York named Billy Haughton and Stanley Dancer.

"I gott to meet a whole bunch of the greats in harness racing that year," Paisley remembered. "Later, over the years, that proved to be a great opportunity as when my career progressed, I would take horses to race for some of those guys in Chicago."

The Race
From the ten-hole, the youthful Paisley watched the race unfold in front of him as he guided his charge quietly around the racetrack.

"My main concern was that I didn't want to get into anyone's way," Paisley laughed. "There were so many prominent people driving in that race, and I just wanted to drive well, make a good showing and not cause any problems."

Paisley and Algiers Eblis did just that, finishing 12th and 15th in each of their respective heats. Diller Hanover and Frank Ervin were the eventual winners, stopping the timer in 2:01.1 and 2:01.4 respectively in each of their heats. Tie Silk with Ralph Baldwin were second, while Circo and Billy Haughton nabbed third-place honors.

"It was a great experience," Paisley noted of his one-time Hambletonian outing. "It was a lot of fun for a young kid, but it would have been much better to have a horse that was 5-2 instead of a 99-1 shot. The best part of it for me is that it opned the door to me getting to know a lot of the old timers in the sport."

The Braidwood Years
Paisley's most famous equine partner had to be the tough racehorse Braidwood, a striking chestnut son of Majestic Hanover--Petitpoint--Widower Creed who was born in the spring of 1970. Driven and trained by Paisley, Braidwood earned nearly $300,000 as a racehorse with a 9-7-10 record from 56 starts in a career that lasted six years and saw him take a mark of 1:57.1f at age four in 1974. Braidwood went on to have a modest career as a sire, dropping eight crops (1978-1985) of foals whose 59 starters earned over $1.3 million.

Walter Paisley's Career Driving Statistics
Year   Starts Wins/2nds/3rds       Money Won
2005      10         0       1       0         $2,120
2004      10          1       0       1         $7,206
2003        2          0       0       0         $210
1993      67         3       14    12        $54,280
1992      1369   215    187    169       $1,730,571
1991      845    159    126     99       $1,441,985
1990      1728   340    262   232      $2,942,320
1989      1447   259    202    186      $2,293,607
1988      1554   259    241    188      $2,622,317
1987      1515    287   218   171      $2,240,461
1986      1246    174    189    175      $1,418,698
1985      1398   204   201    188      $1,518,480
1984      1252   185   170    129      $1,130,553
1983      1528    247    218    189      $1,587,001
1982      1179   217    155    135      $1,206,535
1981      1473    225   209    197      $1,669,478
1980      1346    233    212    205      $1,728,701
1979      1559    301    257    194      $1,782,755
1978      1524    286    258    198      $1,503,760
1977      1399    255    243    195      $1,278,160
Total              5,713                      $34,665,439

Walter Paisley Speaks Out
This story originally appeared in the March 22, 2006 edition of Horseman & Fair World Magazine...By Kimberly Rinker
He's not a breeder or an owner or even a working horseman anymore, but Walter "Butch" Paisley, once one of North America's leading drivers, still thinks about harness racing. Despite being away from daily track life for 12 years, in 2005 Paisley became a member of the Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association (IHHA) board of directors. Then, earlier htis year he resigned his post, saying "I felt htat I wasn't able to make the contribution that I originally thought I could make."

The fact that Paisley could be elected to the IHHA board after being gone from the sport for so many years speaks of his popularity in Chicago racing. He was one of the most successful drivers in Chicago racing history, capturing numerous stakes and driving titles at Windy City raceways. He took the Maywood Park title in three separate years: in 1971 (51 wins), '79 (160 wins) and '83 (128 wins). Paisley also finished second in the 1975 North American dash title to fellow Chicago driver Daryl Busse with 358 wins (Busse had 360).

Born March 10, 1941, not far from Sportsman's Park, Paisley was introduced to harness racing via his father. At age 18 Walter found himself behind the gate in the ten-hole in the 1959 Hambletonian with a horse named Algiers Elbis at DuQuoin's famed oval. By 1981 h was representing the US in the World Driving Championships held in Norway, Finland, Germany and Italy.

Paisley says he loved driving horses, but in 1993 he abruptly decided to hang up his colors after winning 5,712 races and more than $34 million in purses.

"I really hadn't planned on leaving racing then," Paisley recalled. "It just seemed that every night people were complaining about the state of the business and I got sick of it. I just decided I was done. I'm pretty spontaneous and I threw everything into a bag and away I went. I regretted it just of the fact that it was a good paying job and I loved it. I was luckky that I had a farm that was paid for that I could sell."

Besides catch-driving horses, Paisley enjoyed a successful career as a trainer and owner.

"I've owned over 400 horses over the years," Paisley noted. "Basically everything I made on driving hores I spent on buying horses."

Paisley says he sees plenty of differences in how drivers pilot pacers and trotters today versus during his era 30 years ago.

"I watch the races on the computer and occasionally come to the track. I really don't see any similarities besides the fact that they just keep turning left. The horses go so much faster and most of the younger drivers just send them down the road. They race them like it's the last race of their life. To me, if you take care of them, these horses will last a long time. But if you run them down to the half in :53 every week, you'll take the heart of them."

Leading horsemen has often been described as something as difficult as herding cats, so why did Paisley choose to become a director of the IHHA after years as simply a harness racing fan and observer?

"Last year, I thought I could honestly help," he said. "But at the IHHA meetings it seemed to me that topics of less importance were harped on."

Paisley may have been a popular driver, but hte ideas he expressed to his fellow IHHA directors were sometimes novel, or some might even say radical. For example, Paisley disagreed with the IHHA paying a lobbyist to represent them in Springfield.

"I couldn't see paying our lobbyists $16,000 a month for what little they do in Springfield," he said. "The Johnstons (Billy Jr and his sons John & Duke) have a lot of money which creates power in Springfield and we (the horsemen and the IHHA) can't compete with that power."

Paisley also had strong ideas about the strikes by Illinois horsemen.

"I don't think they've really helped in the long run. I think unless you get what you want, you really aren't getting anything. I think if you're going to do something, then you need to do it and not give in ever, unless your conditions are met."

Paisley says he calculated the cost of doing business with harness horses in Illinois and his numbers show the horsemen come out as losers.

"In our IHHA meetings it was frequently brought up that it takes about 1,500 hores to run our programs in Chicago," Paisley explained. "That said, if you take 1,500 horses and figure expenses for those horses on a daily basis, based on the average rate Chicago trainers are charging--$45 per day--you come out to about $100,000 per day in expenses for 1,500 horses. I took four days of racing in Chicago in January--the 17th, 18th, 19th & 20th--that's two days of racing at Balmoral and two at Maywood...their purses each day were $53,400 total. So how in the world does that support the $100,000 required to finance 1,500 racehores for a day? I took the same four days at Dover (excluding Friday and using Saturday since they don't race Friday) and their average is $154,975 per card. I then took The Meadowlands for three days--the 18, 29, and 20th--and their average is $195,533."

Paisley believes a few things in racing should be done differently.

"I have a lot of ideas which I feel would benefit the business, but I'm not so sure the business is ready for them," he says. "For instance, I think the penalties for drugs on horses should be so strict that no one would even think about sticking a horse. You drug a horse, you're done, end of story.

He also says there's too much racing.

"I think we should take January and February off and race five days a week--we used to do this years ago. Horses need the rest and so do the humans.

Paisley says harness raacing should have a season, like other professional sports.

"Patrons look forward to those seasons and they should look forward to ours. Dover and The Meadowlands don't race year-round, but we do."

Paisely likes Super Night at Balmoral Park, but thinks it should be expanded to include three separate nights of racing spread out over a three-month period.

"I definitely think Supr Night should be split over three different nights," he said. "You could have the first in July, the second in the middle of August and the third at the end of September....to give all the colts a fair chance. It doesn't seem right to me that a colt who shows a lot of promise early doesn't have a chance to get the big money because maybe he just isn't right for whatever reason on a particular day. Spread the wealth around and if a horse is that great, he'll win all three of those races anyway.

What would Paisley do if he had control of racing in Illinois?

"I'd buy the tracks and give everyone an equal split of the profits," he said. "If that didn't work--then I'd say sorry fellas, we gave it a good shot but it just didn't work. But I'm sure it would work."