Eel Place Approved. Location pending
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The Eel, Champion Horse
The Eel, Champion Horse
The Eel, born in 1902, was one of the most prominent horses in the sport of harness racing in the early 20th century. The Eel broke every pacing record there was except that of the great Dan Patch who was a major celebrity and was undefeated in open competition,
Frank Entricken owned two brickyards, one near Tavistock and the other in Little Lakes, east of Stratford. He purchased the dapple-grey colt as a yearling at the Michigan harness horse sales for $180. Dan McEwen was a horse trainer from London, and Entricken turned his horse over to McEwen for training. This relationship turned out to be in everyone’s best interest since the horse earned a reputation throughout Southwestern Ontario as unbeatable.
Originally known as Silver Joe, Entricken changed the horse’s name to The Eel. There was no known rule at that time that said that a horse’s name could not be changed, so Entricken paid the required fee and, at the beginning of the 1908 season, it was The Eel who was racing and Silver Joe no longer existed.
The Eel died under mysterious circumstances in Ohio in 1912. It was the day before he was to race against America’s most famous horse, Dan Patch, in Columbus. Some say he was poisoned, while another story is that, after he was done racing in Detroit and on his way to Columbus, he was caught in a rainstorm. Upon reaching Columbus, the blankets covering him were wet and not replaced with dry ones. The story goes on that this resulted in the horse catching a cold from which he did not recover. It has been 110 years since The Eel’s death in 1912, but his legend still lives on.
Seen here from the Stratford-Perth Archives. is a treasured painting from the Stratford-Perth Archives of the famous horse, The Eel, and some of his trophies. Also shown here are Canadian artist John J. Kenyon (1862-1937) who worked as a photographer and painter in Blair, Ont.
Sydney Warris, left, holds a silver racing cup won by the famous racehorse, The Eel, while T.W. Orr, president of the Perth County Historical Foundation, holds two more cups won by The Eel in 1909. Stratford-Perth Archives
He liked to create portraits from his photographs of horse race winners and then sell them to the owner. In this painting of The Eel and his driver, Dan McEwen, Kenyon’s signature appears in the lower left-hand corner along with the date, 1911.
The photograph appeared in the Oct. 4, 1969, edition of the Stratford Beacon Herald. The caption read: “Sydney Warris, left, holds a silver racing cup won by the famous racehorse The Eel owned by the late Frank W. Entricken of Tavistock.
T.W. Orr, (1905-1970), president of the Perth County Historical Foundation, and son of R. Thomas Orr, holds two more cups won by The Eel in 1909. The cups were inherited from the Entricken family by the late Annie C. Sharpe, the first wife of Mr. Warris, who donated them to the Foundation. He also presented the framed painting of The Eel. The cups were restored through the efforts of James Anderson, Foundation curator, and will be on display Sunday at the Fryfogel Inn. The trophies and painting were added to the Perth County Historical Collection and are now preserved at the Stratford-Perth Archives. Text taken from a Reflections article of the Stratford- Perth Archives; Additional sources: The Eel | Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame; The Eel | Tavistock & District Historical Society
* The Eel was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2011.