Mike Lachance remembers Carmine Abbatiello
by Bob Heyden
Mike Lachance spoke glowingly about Carmine Abbatiello who passed away earlier this week.
Lachance, 14 years younger than “The Red Man,” spoke with a combination of reverence, awe, and praise reserved for the rare few.
“There’ll never be another Carmine,” Lachance said. “Same with Buddy Gilmour. But it’s funny because I tried to imitate Carmine. Especially the way he sat in the bike. He and Bill O’Donnell had the two greatest seats I’ve ever seen for a driver.”
In case you don’t know, Lachance is now 75.
“I had 40 horses when I was 25,” Lachance said. “I remember being at Brandywine in the late 1970s. I would send some horses to New York. Keystone Surprise was a trotter I sent. Carmine was my driver. We started him in C-2 and he made it to the open, all with Carmine.
“Carmine and Ron Pierce are two naturals. They rely on feel and instinct. They don’t spend a lot of time training or even prepping.”
Lachance continued about the impact of the loss of Abbatiello.
“It’s a big loss,” Lachance said. “A legend. He was a star during the Dancer-Haughton years. He taught me so much. He liked people. I had so much respect for him.”
Lachance was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995, a decade after Abbatiello (1985).
It was Lachance who snapped Abbatiello’s streak of being the leading driver in New York in 1983.
“I came to New York in late 1982,” Lachance said. “It was slow early there for me. It picked up in 1983 and that’s when I won my first title in New York.”
Lachance would parlay that into being North America’s No. 1 from 1984-87.
“In the last 75 years in harness racing, he was as great a driver as anyone,” Lachance said of Abbatiello. “It’s the era. It’s who you are driving against. It’s the tracks you are driving at. The fact that he led the nation in earnings twice [1975 and 1978] is tough, very tough to do when you aren’t driving the best Grand Circuit horses. It’s extremely difficult to lead in wins like he did and in money.
“The two best drivers I’ve ever seen in the mud are John Campbell and Carmine,” Lachance said. “Unbelievable. It’s as if they had eyes in the back of their head and on the side too. It’s hard to explain, but they were.”
WHAT OTHERS HAD TO SAY ABOUT ABBATIELLO
Jackie Ingrassia: “Believe it or not it was Carmine who signed for my license.”
Howard Perlmutter: “What a legend. From driving the old reliable Mr. A.A.A. in the $33,000 claimers at Roosevelt to fronting Nihilator in the 1985 Meadowlands Pace elims with Anxious Robby, his presence will forever be etched in the minds of his loyal fans.”
David Glaser: “Wow, what a legend. He’s the only horseman ever in the Schaefer Circle.”
Steve Wolf: “Our heroes from growing up in harness racing are all going away. It’s a sad course of life, but we have new heroes emerging all the time. The Red Man always rules.”
Bob Boni: “A very special talent.”
George Napolitano, Jr.: “A true legend. He never got the recognition he should have.”
Mike Lizzi: “He was my favorite.”
Charles Dombeck: “He was an icon.”
Paul Kelley: “The King of New York”
Gordon Banks: “Sad to hear; another one of the old guard gone.”
