LOS ALAMITOS : Buggies Are Old Hat to Abe Stoltzfus

Abe Stoltzfus drives his high-powered car down the 605 Freeway to Los Alamitos and hops into a sulky behind some of the fastest standardbreds stabled at the track.

The pace is a far cry from that of his youth.

Stoltzfus, who will turn 49 Tuesday, grew up in the Amish region near Lancaster, Pa., where life in the fast lane meant yielding to another horse and buggy.

The oldest of nine children, Abram Stoltzfus remembers his formative years in Pennsylvania Dutch country vividly.

“I walked two miles to a one-room schoolhouse every day,” Stoltzfus said. “I’ve been around horses all my life. I was out in the field plowing with an eight-mule team when I was 9.

“The movie ‘Witness’ was filmed about four miles from where I was raised. My parents still have a horse and buggy and don’t drive a car. They don’t use electricity, only kerosene and gas.

“My father, Amos, is 74. Three years ago, he had open-heart surgery and had a kidney taken out. But he still works all day and never stops. He takes the horse and buggy to town every morning and gets a cup of coffee.”

Seven of Stoltzfus’ eight brothers and sisters remained in the area. But he envisioned a move with harness racing long ago. “I had this in mind since childhood,” Stoltzfus said. “I just liked horses, period. I still like it after 30 years.

“Dad never tried to stop me. He said, ‘If that’s what you want to do, go for it.’ They’re all my biggest fans now.”

Stoltzfus accompanied his father to such Eastern outposts as Vernon and Saratoga in New York and Hinsdale in New Hampshire. “We had a dairy farm, but he went to the tracks and sold horses he got there as buggy horses,” said Stoltzfus. “We only lived about 45 minutes from Brandywine Raceway (in Delaware). I went there a lot as a kid and always liked it.”

Stoltzfus became a successful driver in the East. He had his own farm near home for 15 years before moving to Florida eight years ago and testing the waters in California the past two winters.

“I’ll stay out here as long as they have racing,” Stoltzfus said. “I’d like to lease a farm and have my own place in Southern California.” His 21-year-old son, Mike, would like to follow in his footsteps here.

Stoltzfus has been associated with several top horses, including the ill-fated Toplady Almahurst, who won her first 10 starts as a 2-year-old in 1975 before dying suddenly. He might have another as good in Lexie, unbeaten in 10 starts last year, who is nearly ready to make her sophomore debut this month.

Other stable stars include Till We Meet Again, the national 2-year-old champion of 1989 with earnings of $820,791, and Storm Prince, a hickory 7-year-old pacer with 40 victories in 130 starts and earnings of $468,913.

In the finest Amish tradition Stoltzfus has trained his horses to last.

Driver Jim Todd hopes to return this week from La Palma Hospital, where he was taken Friday for treatment of a bleeding ulcer. Todd, 58, had previously undergone heart surgery.

“The doctors told him to take it easy, but he said he’s going back to the track this week,” Todd’s wife, Virginia, said with a sigh. “We have a hard time with him.”

Ed Hensley, Todd’s 24-year-old grandson, shone in his absence with consecutive triples Friday and Saturday. Hensley swept the opening triple Friday and replaced Todd for two of his winners Saturday to move into fourth place in the driver standings with 35.

Hensley also survived the antics of Aquatic before the fifth race Friday. The 7-year-old New Zealand-bred horse kicked driver Rick Plano in the groin a few minutes before post time, forcing a driver change. Hensley took over, only to be kicked in the leg. The horse was scratched and showed his displeasure in the receiving barn by biting veterinarian Ed Hill on the arm.

Denise Maier, trainer of Cool Charm Girl, said the New Zealand-bred pacing star would probably be sidelined for two weeks after falling at the first turn in the distaff invitational Friday.

“She broke a blood vessel in her nose, lost her air and fell,” Maier said of the 8-year-old mare, a four-time winner at the meeting. “But she seems to be fine.”

Denise and her husband, Tim, form one of the most successful trainer-driver teams at the track. The Cypress residents manage to juggle their schedules to oversee an 18-horse stable and raise two sons, Jason and Daniel.

“I get here every day at 7, and she gets here at 8 after taking the kids to school,” Tim said. “Then we’re here until noon or 1.”

Denise, the daughter of trainer Ray Richmond, married Tim 10 years ago. She displayed her expertise after Cool Charm Girl turned in a poor effort earlier in the meet. “I had one theory, but Denise just thought the horse was (ovulating),” Tim said. “The vet looked at her, and she was right.”

The Maier stable also boasts one of the sharpest distaff trotters on the ground in Saving Grace. The 7-year-old mare has won three of five starts and has run a best of 1:59 3/5 since being claimed for $12,000.

Los Alamitos Notes

George Cliff, who scored a driving double last week in a rainstorm, said that was nothing compared with escaping from Hungary in 1956. The Budapest native, 58, first went to Canada, then to New York, where he drove under his real name, George Sziklai. When he moved to California in 1975, he changed it to Cliff-- Sziklai translated into English--because it was too difficult for Americans to spell or pronounce.

Former pro basketball star George Yardley of Newport Beach, who was honored with a race Thursday, said he might buy a harness horse. An avid racing fan for most of his life, Yardley said: “I made 105 straight racing days at Tanforan, Bay Meadows and Golden Gate (Fields) when I went to Stanford.” . . . Driver Todd Ratchford, who has scored impressive victories with pacers On The Edge and Heavy Tipper and trotter Alfa Star, is the son of Gus Ratchford, who set the record of seven straight victories on one harness program at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1976. The mark was equaled by Ross Croghan at Sacramento in 1989.

Australian driver Mark Harder, who doubles as a successful bloodstock agent for Down Under horses, scored his first victory of the meeting last week with Finishing Touch. . . . Owner Michael Schwartz was elected president of the California Harness Horsemen’s Assn.