by James Platz

When Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino unveiled the First Turn Stable in 2016, Ed Dobrowolski signed on for the experience of owning a piece of a standardbred racing at the Anderson ,IN track. Seven years later, he continues to pursue ownership and a deeper involvement in the sport. Earlier this month, Tell Me You Loveme, a sophomore filly he bred and co-owns with trainer Zach Miller, collected her first career win, a 1:54.1 triumph. Victories like this, and the effort required to reach the winner’s circle, are fulfilling a desire developed growing up in his home state of Michigan.

Unlike some of his counterparts, Dobrowolski joined First Turn Stable that inaugural season as an individual with prior racing experience. In the Great Lakes State, his parents owned claimers and raced at several venues. He even spent time around the barn helping out when time allowed.

“We had horses back in the ’90s in Michigan,” Dobrowolski said. “We were racing at Hazel Park, Sports Creek, Northville and Jackson. Todd Warren was our main trainer back then. Mostly my dad was the owner. I was in high school then. I was just doing my best to help out and learn, working with Todd on the weekends. We kind of lost connection with things maybe around 1999, right before I was ready to graduate. It was getting to be too much, so we quit with the horses for a bit.”

As a student at Ball State University, Dobrowolski made his way to Hoosier Park from time to time. Then, the track was a dual-breed facility, hosting harness racing in the spring and summer, and thoroughbreds in the fall. He would graduate and pursue a career that sent him away from Indiana for a time, but when he returned, he aimed to become more involved.

“That itch never left,” he said. “To work with the horses and get something done in the winner’s circle really never left. My dad was the same way. I went to the USTA driving school in Delaware the summer before First Turn began. I took the initiative and wanted to be more involved.”

At the driving school he was placed in the barn of Brian Brown. The desire to get back into the business had never left, and his experience in the driving school stoked that fire.

“That did get those embers going again, for sure,” Dobrowolski said. “I was able to talk with Brian and his assistant trainers, and work with the horses he had there. It was a lot of fun.”

With the experience of the driving school under his belt, the aspiring owner eagerly paid the $250 fee to secure one of 50 ownership slots in the First Turn Stable at Hoosier Park in the spring of 2016. The concept gave fans the opportunity to become first-time owners. Jeff Cullipher trained for the First Turn Stable, sending four different horses to the winner’s circle for a total of five wins that season.

“That was awesome to reconnect and get more involved,” Dobrowolski said. “That was hands on a little bit with Jeff Cullipher. I wasn’t able to get to the backside, but I did go visit him in the offseason at Pace Setter a couple times, so I made that personal connection as well. I still chat with him in the paddock. He’s always asking how things are going. We still communicate with each other.”

In the midst of the First Turn experience, Dobrowolski and his family connected with owner and trainer Alvin Miller and his son, Zach. His mother met the elder Miller when traveling to a painting competition in Converse that summer, noting how she and her husband missed racing. Dobrowolski would later meet Alvin at the Hoosier Classic Sale.

“At the end of the year, First Turn Stable had a meet and greet with certain trainers that were interested, and I met Zach in person,” said Dobrowolski, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “I told him I met his dad at the sale and I wanted to come up and visit and talk about things. I made that effort to go up there and visit, and I wasn’t up there every weekend, but at least a couple times a month. He got me jogging horses again, and I was like, ‘I remember how to do this.’”

Dobrowolski rejoined First Turn Stable during the 2017 season, but in the meantime, he had partnered with Miller on pacer Youda Shark. The experience wouldn’t last long, as Youda Shark was claimed the next week. But the experience of owning a horse outside the First Turn Stable and visiting the Converse Fairgrounds and helping around the barn tapped into Dobrowolski’s growing interest.

“I wanted to be more involved, in person, and learn,” he said. “When we lost that connection with Todd, I really felt that void I guess. For some folks, sitting in the grandstand and saying, ‘That’s my horse out there,’ that’s enough. But I wanted more. I wanted to get more involved and learn, and I’m still learning today.”

In May of that year, Dobrowolski, his father, and Miller and his wife, Dessa, purchased Shadyshark Hanover mare SS Lover. She made seven starts for the partnership, registering three runner-up finishes. Then, an injury abruptly brought the 4-year-old mare’s racing career to an end.

“There’s a lot of ups and downs in this business,” Dobrowolski said. “We thought we had a great horse with SS Lover. All of a sudden, I get that text from Zach saying she tore a tendon. Anything can happen. We tried to bring her back, but she ended up tearing the tendon again. Zach and I had that discussion about what to do next. We decided to try her as a broodmare. We had never done that before. This is our first go at the breeding game.”

Tell Me You Loveme is the first foal from SS Lover. The Tellitlikeitis filly made two starts last season at Hoosier Park, pacing fourth each time. This year she has lined up behind the starting gate nine times, tallying four runner-up efforts before her victory June 3. She has banked $18,605 in seasonal earnings. Her full-brother, freshman Lovers Trouble, has notched a pair of second-place performances on the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit. Racing over the home oval at Converse, he recorded a beaten time of 1:59.3. Also in the pipeline is a Night Pro yearling filly and a Tellitlikeitis filly that arrived in May.

“Zach and Dessa said that we take a lot more pride in the ones we raise from babies,” Dobrowolski said. “We put all that effort in them and they make things more special. It is different. It’s just so much work. People just reading the program have no idea what it takes to raise these horses and get them to go. [The win] did mean a lot to me, for sure.”

The 41-year-old is a hands-on owner. If his horse is racing at Hoosier Park, you can find him in the paddock offering a helping hand. It’s all part of the learning experience.

“We don’t just race here. I’m going with Zach to Hawthorne and we don’t get back here until three in the morning. But I’ll go. He buys me a sandwich. I’m pretty cheap labor,” he said with a laugh. “I want to learn as much as I can, and eventually help Zach and Dessa more. As my skillset grows, eventually I want to be out there helping him train horses. It’s going to take time. With my career, I can’t be out there every day.”

Dobrowolski used Hoosier Park’s First Turn Stable as a means to reignite his involvement in harness racing. Where the journey of horse ownership will take him is unclear, but he is enjoying the priceless moments and friendships forged along the way.

“Just being in with the Millers has meant quite a bit for us,” Dobrowolski said. “We’ve grown to be great friends. Our experience has been very successful because of the amount of effort and care Zach and Dessa put into their stable and the horses. I really respect them and I’m grateful for their friendship and mentorship as well.”