My Hall of Fame life with Ellen Taylor

by Bob Heyden

I wrestled with what to write about Ellen Taylor on her Communicators Hall of Fame induction weekend.

First, I wanted to avoid any overlap from her introduction which I will handle tonight (July 5).

It wasn’t until Monday (June 29) when, after running it by a few, that common sense seized the day.

“Why don’t you tell us how you two got together and the journey from then to now?” someone suggested. I wish I had thought of that.

Ellen and I have been together 13 years plus and live in Anderson, IN three miles from Hoosier Park. We have been here since January 2019. Before that it was quite a bit of that long distance thing from New Jersey for me.

I’ve known of Ellen and the Harness Horse Youth Foundation for years. I’m not sure if I ever met her mother Margot, she passed away 1994, but we figure I more than likely did in various winner’s circles and HHYF events at the track. Still, I hadn’t really met/gotten to know Ellen.

February 2003 in Florida for the Horse of the Year banquet would be the perfect storm I thought. The main reason I was going was because Stanley Dancer was close by and wanted to see me win my Dan Patch Award, more than likely knowing this was going to be his final public appearance. Around dinnertime the night before the festivities I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker that the USHWA congregation was to meet poolside at 8:30.

I’ll just wander over plop down and go from there I thought. Ellen’s roommate was sick and, well, this was not the time.

Fast forward to 2009, the January horse sale in The Meadowlands paddock. I had promised two people a large, actually basketball-sized, Mrs. Heyden’s famous chocolate chip cookies. Neither showed. In my world you never returned anything that mom made. She took that personally. So, I set out to find two new recipients for these gifts. The first one gone in a flash. As I stood perusing the room, I saw Ellen standing, actually leaning, on a corner stanchion. Perfect. So, I brought it over, happy to do it, with no strings attached. I loved the work she did with the kids, even from a distance. All good.

Let’s jump to Sept. 7, 2012, when Steve Wolf informs me that Sam McKee and I will go into the Communicators Hall the following July. We made it! Now it starts getting a little, shall we say, off the rails. In November 2012 an ex-girlfriend reads about the HOF and says she will have my “outfit approval.” OK. January comes and another ex-girlfriend announces she’s going as my date. I said, “But I thought you had gotten married?” She said, “I did.”

February in Florida was a lot of fun with a ton going on, and I will never forget me, Ashley, and Trysta Tetrick — she was just a 1-year-old then — going into the pool for the very first time. Anyway, I inquire a couple times “Has anyone seen Ellen Taylor?” Nope.

Stan Bergstein told me that the best of the bunch of roses was always surrounded by the stickiest thorns. Like this?

Once again, I had a handful of air. But because of that being a full slate kind of year for me, it didn’t register that much. April saw me go to PEI for an honorary dinner.

May 2013, I get a pack of Harness Hero cards from HHYF/Ellen. Heck, I’m in it. My very own card. How cool! Ellen sent a gracious note with it. (No, no, no, not an apology, come on now).

I call her on June 10, and this is exactly what I said to myself before she picked up, “I don’t know if she’s married with three kids, but I am going to talk to her and find out!” We have not missed a single day since.

Then I had two things to resolve. First, what about Hall of Fame night? My table is already full. Will Ellen understand? Did you ever try to un-invite someone to your own Hall of Fame ceremony? Luckily Ellen (kind of) understood. And I did mention her in my speech.

Fast forward a few months as I’m now meeting Ellen’s family at a few functions and Ellen’s dad is going into the Indiana Racing Hall of Fame. Richard Taylor was a quiet man. He didn’t say much because he didn’t have to. He had a presence for sure. After six to eight months or so when he sensed this might be it for his daughter, he decided to call someone on the East Coast who would very likely know me.

Let me pause half a moment and come right back to this, because in the years from approximately 2010-13 or so two trainers I got along with famously — Jimmy Takter and Doug Ackerman — both enter the fray. Completely separate from the other, they both often referred to me as their “best friend.” Yes, me. Hey, who am I to question two Hall of Fame luminaries such as these two? Even though they were likely pulling my leg quite a bit, they both said it a bunch of times. I was quite honored to be honest with you.

Now, back to Richard Taylor. He as a father did his due diligence. Remember it was not only father-daughter, but they worked side by side with the horses forever. So now Richard makes the call to the person he trusts the most. The person who absolutely will give it to him straight. He must of course look out for his daughter’s best interests. He does make the call. To his BFF, Doug Ackerman.

What about Jimmy Takter you ask? He and Christina sat at my table in 2013. I had introduced Jimmy just a year earlier at his own Hall of Fame induction.

This year when I get to introduce Ellen into the Hall of Fame, it will be 13 years to the day of our first date! Don’t believe me? Check with Jimmy and Christina Takter. They went out with us that night and were kind enough to drive. Hey folks, some things really are just meant to be.