Eel Place  Approved. Location pending

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.