Harness: Another Chapter for Campbell and Farber

The Campbell-Farber combination has tasted success in the past and hopes to get another taste with Another Chapter.

Jim Campbell trains Another Chapter for Scott Farber’s Runthetable Stables. Campbell’s connection with the Farber family began 31 years ago when he trained millionaire pacer Run The Table for Farber’s father, Sandy, and has continued to include the likes of Farber’s stakes-winning trotter Opening Night.

Another Chapter is ready to make his debut for Campbell and Farber on Friday at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The 4-year-old trotter is in the ninth race, which is the third of three races that will be shown from 9-10 p.m. on SNY (SportsNet New York) as part of the Meadowlands Harness Live broadcast.

Farber bought Another Chapter for $90,000 during the mixed sale portion of November’s Standardbred Horse Sale. Another Chapter, a stakes-level performer whose wins last year included an elimination of the Dexter Cup and a division of the New York Sire Stakes, is 9-2 on the morning line. Brett Miller will drive.

“My plans are for him to return to being a stakes-level performer,” Farber said. “I’m a very conservative guy. This business will make you a conservative guy. But I got a little taste of it with my father with Run The Table and got another little taste of it with Opening Night. The idea is to try to win some big races.”

Farber and Campbell will take a look at Another Chapter this winter and determine how to stake him this year, with an eye toward events restricted to 4-year-olds. The horse is eligible to the Hambletonian Maturity, which meets that condition.

“I basically go off what Jimmy tells me,” Farber said. “The horse is going to tell us what we can do. The horse holds all the answers. If he earns it, I’ll stake him.”

Another Chapter, a half-brother to millionaire Spider Blue Chip, was purchased as a yearling under the name Orthodox Blue Chip for $125,000 and raced most recently for trainer Per Henriksen.

“I liked him as a yearling,” Campbell said. “He was a racy-looking colt. He shows he’s got some speed and he seems like the type of horse that will go around any size track.”

Campbell first met Sandy Farber while stabled at the Meadowlands. The encounter eventually led to Sandy Farber buying Run The Table in 1987.

“He stopped by the barn and said he was looking to buy a horse,” Campbell said. “I asked him how much he wanted to spend and he said he didn’t care, just to find a nice horse. It took me several months before I bought him a horse. I told him about Run The Table and I still had no idea how much he wanted to spend. He said that if I liked him, he’d buy him. The rest is history.

“Sandy was a first-class gentleman. I was 27 or 28 at the time. I really learned a lot from him. He was a man of his word. And (Run The Table) was one of the horses that helped me along with my career.”

Sandy Farber, who was an insurance broker and mayor of Palisades Park, N.J., died in 2004. Scott Farber continued the family’s participation in harness racing and has a small stable of horses, all trotters, at the moment.

“My family has been with Jim since 1987 and Jimmy is the very best at what he does,” Farber said. “If he were to leave this business, I’d be leaving with him. Once you have a taste of the best it’s very difficult to top that.”

Racing begins at 6:35 p.m. on Friday.

-Courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, please visit www.ustrotting.com