Harness: Hall of Famer Carmine Abbatiello passes at age 89

Hall of Fame driver Carmine Abbatiello, one of harness racing’s most successful and popular drivers throughout a career that spanned more than four decades, passed away Tuesday (Jan. 27), his family announced. He was 89.

Mr. Abbatiello, who drove in his first race in 1956, was a fixture on the New York-New Jersey circuits, and over the years captured numerous driving titles in the region – most notably a combined total of nearly 20 at Roosevelt and Yonkers. He attended high school on Staten Island and from there worked eight years with his brother Anthony, another Hall of Famer, before going on his own in 1964.

In 1959, Mr. Abbatiello tied for the driving title at Freehold Raceway before winning multiple crowns there in the early 1960s. He also was a driving champion at Monticello Raceway during the early days of his career.

Mr. Abbatiello enjoyed his first top-25 finish in the national driver standings in 1962, with his 83 victories ranking No. 21. He ranked in the top 20 the next four seasons before breaking out in 1968 with 237 triumphs and $854,482 in purses to finish No. 3 and No. 6, respectively, in those categories in the national standings.

Mr. Abbatiello led the sport in purses in 1975 ($2.27 million) and again in 1978 ($3.34 million), when he shared Harness Tracks of America’s Driver of the Year Award with Herve Filion. In addition, Mr. Abbatiello ranked among the top five in purses on 11 other occasions. He had a total of nine years among the top-five winningest drivers, including second-place finishes in 1970 (with 294 victories), 1978 (387) and 1979 (393).

His final year with more than 1,000 drives came in 1989. At the end of that season, Mr. Abbatiello ranked No. 2 all-time in wins, with 6,944, and No. 4 in purses, with nearly $47.7 million. He ended his career with 7,170 victories and $50.3 million in purses.

Known as “The Red Man” because of his bright red driving colors, Mr. Abbatiello was elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1985. Among other accolades, he received Harness Horsemen International’s Man of the Year Award in 1982, the same year he was feted with Carmine Abbatiello Night at Roosevelt Raceway – only the second driver, after Billy Haughton – to receive the honor.

Such was Mr. Abbatiello’s popularity that he appeared in a beer commercial and had a restaurant – the famed Carmine’s in New York City, launched by Arthur J. Cutler – named in his honor.