Moving into a new season does not always mean just a change in temperature. In racing, the greatest change in seasons happens when tracks open and stakes move into full swing. On May 4, the first major milestone of racing was hit, albeit on the “other side” of racing. The Kentucky Derby amassed over 156,000 fans inside the gates at the Louisville oval and millions of fans worldwide that tuned in through radio, television, social media, and more. When you mention horse racing in most atmospheres, the general assumption is that you are referring to the horses that race in the Derby. Those little jockeys riding on the horses’ backs. Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Man O’ War – the list goes on. Although our sports fall under the same umbrella, harness racing and thoroughbred racing feel worlds apart. In Saratoga Springs, New York, though, it is only one street that separates those worlds: Nelson Avenue. Saratoga County is located within the Capital Region of New York. If you visit the city of Saratoga Springs, there is no secret that it is the mecca of horse racing – statues, stores, décor, restaurants, street names, and more all dedicated to the equines. In fact, from May through October, it’s difficult to drive down many of the streets that border the track without being stopped by a crossing guard to allow horses to pass by the masses. Nelson Ave is just a small two-lane road that hosts those two similar but widely different worlds – Thoroughbred and Standardbred – on each of its shoulders. Both tracks share in storied histories, especially notorious upsets in which Niatross snapped a 17-race win streak at Saratoga Raceway after going over the hub rail and Secretariat faced defeat in the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse after coming off the Triple Crown victory. Wins, and even losses, are monumental in the upstate New York region, and the waiting list to gain entry to the historic track, whether as a horseman or a fan, is extensive. Just imagine having the best of both worlds and hopping Nelson Ave every day as part of work. Natalie Rutigliano and Kiara Morgan share in that characteristic. Together, Natalie and Kiara work side-by-side in Chad Brown’s barn at the flat track. Brown runs an operation of nearly 200 head that spans across the country. His career stats rank at 2,619 wins and nearly $285 million earned. Brown is a four-time Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Trainer from 2016 through 2019 and he has multiple stakes wins and titles to his résumé. He had two entries in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, with his student Sierra Leone nipped at the wire by a nose for the win by Mystik Dan. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Natalie has been ponying horses for 23 years, since the age of 17. She has worked on the thoroughbred side as both an outrider and as part of stables. Originally from Queens, New York, Natalie has traveled across the country through work. She landed in Saratoga in 2017 where she has resided permanently since. Kiara Morgan, the daughter of harness racing’s Virgil Morgan, Jr. is from the Midwest and moved to Saratoga in 2023. “I was born into the business, but I didn’t start doing anything with the harness horses until I started working for my dad when I was 20,” Morgan said. “I would go watch the harness races here and there growing up but was never around them even though my dad had and still has between 80 and 100 head. “I jumped full force into harness racing working with my dad. For four years, I was training with him six to 10 sets a day, working in the barn, and driving horses whenever I could. That was my favorite part. I had a blast racing in the amateur races and at the Ohio tracks.” Kiara earned her first training and owner’s win in 2023 at the Spa. Though still new to the harness circuit, she is no stranger to riding. “I started riding when I was four years old and never looked back. I was very busy showing on the AQHA circuit all the way through high school. I moved here from Ohio in July and met some awesome people who introduced me to the thoroughbreds across the street. Natalie Rutigliano and Abigail Adsit, whom I both met at the harness track, sparked my interest in ponying here at Saratoga. “I just started working for Chad last summer so I’m very excited to continue working for him and experience the full meet here at Saratoga,” Morgan continued. “Chad and his team have been more than welcoming to me with being new on that side. I’m very grateful for that. I love ponying the horses and getting to know them and then getting to watch them race. “Chad runs an extremely professional operation and I couldn’t feel more blessed to work for a trainer like himself,” Morgan added. Work at the thoroughbred track for the ladies begins at 5:30 a.m. sharp. The girls tack up their horses and they embark on a tour for several ‘sets’ each day. “There’s usually around nine sets on a busy day,” Rutigliano said. In thoroughbred racing, a group of horses all go out at the same time through sets. With 100-150 to move, it’s likely the only way to get through the day (And some days moving 10-15 seems like a feat on the harness side). Kiara has seven horses in the barn, but she says the number fluctuates slightly with selling and claiming horses. After her duties are done at the flats, she handles her own barn work and then, prepares for the day or night of racing at the harness track depending on the time of year. “My schedule lines up perfectly,” Morgan said. “I’m done between 9 and 10 a.m. and I go directly to my horses at the harness track and get things going. I don’t work the thoroughbred races during the meet, so after I’m done in the morning, I can focus solely on my harness horses.” On the other hand, Natalie leaves the flat track after 10 a.m. and works ponying at the thoroughbred races into working nights at the harness track during the full swing of the race meet. Right now, from early May through to the start of the actual thoroughbred races, Natalie leaves the flats and heads right over to the afternoon card at the harness track. Once the flat track starts racing, the harness track moves to a night schedule and so, Natalie starts her day ponying in the morning, moves to the races in the afternoon at the flats, and then heads over to the harness track for even more races through to the end of the night. In addition to her seven harness horses, Kiara has her pony horse, who works the flat tracks with her in the mornings. “His name is Frutilla, it means Strawberry in English,” Morgan said. “He is a 12-year-old red roan Quarter Horse who I adore. He loves his job and was so happy to get back to work after he had the winter to rest!” Wally is Natalie’s main pony horse, though she has five in total. He splits his own time between the flat track and harness track, too. The 16-year-old quarter horse was rescued by a cowboy and later purchased by Natalie. He has worked over at the flat track for eight years. Together, Natalie and Wally have worked at the harness track for two years. Last year, Natalie and Wally caught their first loose harness horse. It’s a challenge in itself to catch a loose horse, but then add the fact that you’re on horseback, going at top speeds, there’s a race bike that you aren’t used to that you have to account for, and there are no lines because they have both fallen off – quite daunting for anyone. After a jawbreaker broke, that is exactly the feat Natalie and Wally accomplished. The pair chased the horse and driver down after the race was safely cleared. Natalie grabbed ahold of the only thing still attached, the headpole, and the quartet of them slowed into the far turn without further incident. “It was actually really scary, to be honest, because there were no lines to grab. It was great, though,” Natalie said. “Great, scary, an adrenaline rush. Once we finally got stopped I was like okay, it’s not that bad.” Natalie is also spending her time training an off-the-track retired standardbred to work with her on the track in the future as a pony horse. As if balancing stables full of horses, two worlds of racing, and schedules to boot wasn’t a full plate as is, both Kiara and Natalie are also mothers. Kiara has a son named Jackson and Natalie has two boys named Agustus and Maximus. And now is the time that the weather changes and the seasons change with it. The Derby is over, but the races are just beginning, especially with the first-ever Belmont to be hosted at the Saratoga Springs oval. The harness track will move to a Thursday through Saturday evening schedule and the stakes will ramp up while the flats will host cards most afternoons of the week. Although crossing the street does not seem like much, in the bustling city of Saratoga Springs, crossing Nelson Ave is crossing between worlds. Moreover, this feat is something that is no anomaly to horsemen Natalie Rutigliano and Kiara Morgan.