Harness: Di Costanzo has a longstanding special bond with “Chip”

For Nicole Di Costanzo, buying her first Standardbred was about much more than becoming an owner. It was 2015 and 15-year-old Di Costanzo had just purchased Steady Pulse, the horse who would become the beginning of her career in harness racing.

And her grandfather was the first person she told.

“I’ll never forget my grandpa’s face when I said, ‘He’s mine’,” said Di Costanzo. “My grandpa was so excited when I came home and said, ‘We have to be at the barn this afternoon to unload my own horse, Steady Pulse.’ He came to every race and he would regularly go to the barn with or without me to give the entire barn carrots!”

Her grandfather was known to everyone as Chip. Long before Di Costanzo owned a horse, trained a winner, sat behind a racehorse or had a name in the program, there was Chip, a fan of the world of racing.

“He was big into horse racing, more Thoroughbred than Standardbred, but he loved the animal as an individual,” Di Costanzo said.

A first-generation horsewoman, Di Costanzo entered the world of harness racing herself at 15, but her love of horses and the industry was woven within her through her grandfather’s connection to the sport. For her 10th birthday, Chip took Di Costanzo to the Renaissance Room at Freehold Raceway, a place that she says was one of their favorite places to go together. Just five years later, she would end up in that same business.

Despite having no owners, no foundation or background, she had Chip, who bought her three horses to help get her started.

“I had to build myself from the ground up,” she explained. “I had no owners and no name, just myself and a lot of passion to succeed.”

Di Costanzo was raised in the same household as her grandfather and describes him as the person who helped shape the woman she has become.

“He was my father figure growing up. He actually taught me how to walk. He lived for me,” she said. “Anyone that knows us would say I was his favorite person in the world.

“He was always so proud of the tattoo on his heart that read, Nikki Girl,” she said. “He went above and beyond my entire life to make me happy.”

In April 2018, Di Costanzo started training horses. Just a few months later, on July 24, she recorded her first training win at Monticello Raceway with Calladay Road.

Later came a horse named Uptown Funk.

“Uptown Funk was the horse that put me on the map. I would say my career took off when I bought him,” she said.

Uptown Funk, now 11 and having retired in 2023, earned just shy of $300,000 on the track with 21 wins. He competed in upper-level claimers for Di Costanzo, with five of his career wins earned under her conditioning.

Her stable blossomed to 20-head and she took the lines to start driving. Her first win came on January 7, 2022 with Rockabilly Charm at The Meadowlands in what was her 13th career drive. The 27-year-old scored her biggest achievement in the bike with Lyons Pride, stopping the clock in 1:50 4/5 to win by 13 lengths at that same New Jersey oval.

“I’ll never forget my first driving win at The Meadowlands. My grandfather was the first person I called. Michael Lisa made me a huge win photo and I gave it to my grandpa to put in his room,” said Di Costanzo, whose driving career came to a close when she became pregnant. “When I was a few months pregnant, I did get hurt on the track in an accident and we quickly decided it was best I retire. I’m still involved in owning and I do indeed still have my Steady Pulse and the horse that brought me to the top, Uptown Funk.

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“I handle the social media for [fiancé] Joe [Bongiorno] and help around the barn, but being a stay-at-home mom is my main job at the moment. I do plan on driving again one day because it would mean the world to have a winner’s circle with my son in it,” Di Costanzo added. “I’m actually getting ready to bring in my first homebred Beauty Of Drama -- she’s a very special filly. I trained her mother No Mas Drama and actually retired her when I retired, so I’m excited to get back in and train a little bit.”

As Di Costanzo’s family grew with the welcoming of a new addition to her and Joe Bongiorno’s lives, a part of her family had began to fade as her grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

“Even with Alzheimer’s, he never forgot to ask me every day, ‘How are the horses?’ or ‘Where is Steady Pulse?’ or ‘How many horses do you have?’ He was just so proud,” she recalled.

When Chip died, Di Costanzo lost more than her grandfather.

“When I lost him, I didn’t just lose my grandpa. I lost my biggest cheerleader and supporter. I felt like he was gone for a long time before he passed away due to his disease,” said Di Costanzo.

Chip was a huge part of Di Costanzo’s life and he still is, in more ways than one. In June 2024 Di Costanzo and Bongiorno watched a flashy 2-year-old in the baby races at Gaitway which caught their eyes. Some two years later, Bongiorno negotiated and purchased the horse for overnight races, but the horse turned out to be so much more, even in his namesake.

That flashy 2-year-old is the now 4-year-old stakes winner Best Chip.

“When Best Chip came into the barn, I couldn’t help but think this is my grandpa coming back to me,” Di Costanzo said.

Best Chip was racing in the conditioned events when he showed up in a big and bold way for Bongiorno with a 1:50 2/5 performance in line to Dexter Dunn followed up by a 1:49 1/5 victory with Bongiorno himself in the bike. As the weeks went on, the son of Heston Blue Chip proved himself time and time again.

His first real test was in the #SendItIn Invitational at Scioto Downs where he finished third. He won his next start in the 3-6-year-old Open at Yonkers and then found himself in the Open at The Meadowlands on Hambo Day.

“I made it in the nick of time to watch him race and he won,” said Di Constanzo about the spectacular 1:46 1/5 winning performance on August 8.

Best Chip was then second in the Canadian Pacing Derby elimination and won the G1 C$705,000 final in 1:46 4/5. A week later, he won the $200,000 Aria Invitational Pace at Yonkers Raceway at 1 1/4 miles, proving his versatility. In fact, he has wins over every size track in 2026.

None of that really matters to Di Constanzo. “Even if Chip was an ordinary horse, he’d be special to me,” she said. “I love this horse more than I ever pictured. He’s so incredibly special to me and the horse he’s become is truly amazing.”