Maryland Breeder International Success for Eli Solomon & ENS Stables


by Katherine O. Rizzo


According to the U.S. Trotting Association, 67 of the horses that have run in purse races in North America were bred by Eli Solomon, and those 67 collectively have won over $6.5 million in earnings. Put another way, Eli Solo- mon’s North American trotters win an average of almost $100,000 per horse. And several of Solomon’s homebreds have crossed the Atlan- tic to win big in Europe as well. As a result, it goes without saying that Solomon is passionate about promoting the Maryland harness industry, both nationally and abroad.


The Engineer


Solomon always had a love of animals, in par- ticular dogs as pets and watching horses race. His deep dive into the harness industry, how- ever, did not begin until much later in his life. “It was the early ‘80s and some friends in the industry invited me to join a small syndicate to claim a pacer,” he explained. Before joining the syndicate, Solomon, who


is a retired engineer from Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Electronic Systems BWI facil- ity, wanted to learn more about the sport. “I wanted to really educate myself so I did a lot


“It all started with the dissolution of the


partnership with the trainer at Freestate Race- way when I elected to take the trotting-bred filly Winsomuch and relinquished my own- ership interest in the pacing filly,” he said. “I also felt that a trotter with a good gait could be more valuable in many ways; financially as a racehorse, aesthetically to watch, financially as a broodmare or stallion.” In addition, Solomon pointed out that most European countries hold almost exclusively trotting races. He has exclusively bred trotters ever since.


ENS Tag Session Located in Ocean City, ENS Stables is Solo-


mon’s home base for his breeding operation where at the peak of his business, he had over 30 horses. “From a quarter of one pacer to 30 to 40 horses,” he said with a chuckle. It was through ENS Stables that several internationally suc- cessful trotters were produced, most tracing back to that very first trotter, Winsomuch. “Her first foal was a filly I named Regression,


which was a name constructed from familial names,” he said. “Regression produced a filly in 1999 I named ENS Tag Session that became a good producer with two of her foals earning World Champion status.”


Centurion ATM (SJ’s Caviar x ENS Tag Ses- sion), owned by Swedish interests, with his breeder Eli Solomon and Donald Bartling, part owner of SJ’s Caviar, in the winner’s cir- cle after Centurion ATM set a World Record while winning the Peter Haughton Memorial at the Meadowlands on August 2, 2014.


old, he won the Old Oaken Bucket in Dela- ware, Ohio, where he set the World Record of 1:54.2 for a stallion on a half-mile track. He also won the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for a sec- ond time as a three-year-old. He continued to race, and win, through his


four-year-old season and set a new Canadian Record of 1:51.4 for stallions four years old or older at Mohawk Raceway. Tat year, he was considered the fastest trotter in North Ameri- ca. He still holds that Canadian record and also broke the track record at Indian Downs when he won the Pride in Progress Trot in 1:53.1. Triumphant Caviar is the richest son of SJ’s Caviar with $775,605 in career earnings and now stands at Abby Stables in Ohio. Centurion ATM (another son of SJ’s Cavi-


Although not an ENS Stables homebred, SJ’s Caviar was first owned and raced by Eli Solo- mon and Don Bartling. The stallion became the foundation sire for many ENS horses in- cluding World Champions Triumphant Caviar and Centurion ATM, both out of ENS Tag Session. The stallion now stands in Sweden, where MHIB’s Ross Peddicord snapped the photo on the right.


of research,” he said. He liked what he read and jumped in on a 25% share in a pacer. “It was my first taste of the sport.” Te syndicate ended up selling that pacer, but Solomon was hooked. “I then got this pacer from the last sale at Lib-


erty Bell [Raceway] with the help of a trainer at Freestate [Raceway]. She also convinced me to buy a trotting filly,” Solomon said. Tis new partnership did not go as planned, and Solo- mon and the trainer parted ways, splitting up the two horses.


ENS Tag Session herself set a record as a three-


year-old by trotting a furlong in 1:56.1. She netted $94,668 in lifetime earnings. More significantly, she produced the top three horses by earnings from ENS Stables including World Champions Triumphant Caviar and Centurion ATM. As a two-year-old, Triumphant Caviar won


the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at Te Meadows and finished second in the Bridger Trotting Se- ries at Mohawk. He also finished third in the International Stallion Stakes. As a three-year-


PACERS VS. TROTTERS


• Pacers are Standardbred horses that race by moving the legs on the same side of their body in unison. • Trotters are Standardbred horses that race by moving the diagonal legs in unison.


www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | JANUARY 2022 | 21


ar), has career earnings of $728,894. He raced through his five-year-old season with win highlights including the Peter Haughton Me- morial, where he set a World Record of 1:53.2, and the John Simpson Memorial as a two- year-old and Colonial Trot as a three-year-old. Overall he had nine stakes wins and retired to stud duties in 2018 where he stood in Swe- den until 2021. Centurion ATM now stands at Kentuckiana Farms in Kentucky.


SJ’s Caviar In 1998, Solomon was attending the Rosecroft


Raceway sale with friend Don Bartling, who un- til then had owned and raced pacers only. “I saw this really nice yearling and convinced Don he should go in on him with me,” Solomon stated. Bartling became part owner in a trotter that would go on to win nearly $1.3 million. SJ’s Caviar is by S JS Photo and out of the T V Yankee mare Spawning. As a two-year-old, continued...


Ross Peddicord/MHIB


Lisa Photo Inc


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