Retirement Halts Horse Haplessness -- Treboh Joe's Losing Streak Over At 236 Races

PHILADELPHIA - The pathetic pacer. The horrible harness horse. Call Treboh Joe what you want, but the losingest horse in harness racing history, has run his last race.

His owner of four years, Willie Mitchell Jr., gave up the 11-year-old gelding last month after pacer racked up what horse aficionados say is a nearly unassailable losing record.

How bad was he? Say it ain't so, Treboh Joe:

-- Just one win - June 4, 1986 at Saratoga Raceway - out of 247 lifetime starts.

-- Lifetime earnings were $16,438.

-- Shattered the world record of 166 consecutive losses by 70 races.

"I think he (Treboh Joe) had one speed - slow," said John Zimitch, public relations director for Pocono Downs. "I think if he was the only horse in the race, he'd have come in second."

How did Treboh Joe do in his final race, run Oct. 11? True to form, he finished dead last in a seven-horse field and keeping his loss-streak intact at 236 races.

Treboh Joe developed scar tissue on his lungs and could not get enough oxygen to keep racing. Mitchell donated him Oct. 29 to the Harness Horse Retirement and Youth Association of Loganton, Pa., which finds homes for retired race horses.

Mitchell and Zimich said the association would take care of the horse's welfare.

"He's not going to the glue factory," Zimitch said.