What kind of car do you drive? Mercedes Benz C-300- a really comfortable ride for all the long trips that I take. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Sushi, specifically Salmon; Soft pretzels What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? The Preakness. The 2017 Preakness was actually the first horse race I ever attended in-person. Since then, I've attended the 2018, 2019 and 2021 Preakness Week festivities. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? It is tough to choose a single favorite. I have to give two: Baseball - Baltimore Orioles; Women's Volleyball - Stanford University. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I was a freshman in college and a junior in high school at the same time. I attended Mount St. Mary's University for two years concurrently while I was in high school. After I graduated high school in May 2018, I finished out my junior and senior years of college at the University of Maryland and graduated college in May 2020. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Fun! How did harness racing enter your life? The first harness race I attended was at Ocean Downs during my "Senior Week" in June 2018 right after I graduated high school. After dinner one night, my friends went back to our rented apartment and I decided to take my car and check out the racing. I really just intended to bet some thoroughbred races, but saw the live racing going on as well and came to really enjoy it that night. At just 21 you've already been involved in the sport as a charter, photo finish timer, on-air analyst and announcer. Was that just you finding any way to be involved? Absolutely, to some extent. While I do enjoy my on-air work the most, I certainly enjoy charting and working photo finish as well and hope to continue to work in several different roles in the future. You have the full-time announcer gig at Freehold Raceway and have been working on-air at The Meadowlands. That's a pretty good start for a 21-year-old, no? It definitely is a pretty good start I believe. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe how quickly it has all happened. In December 2020, I was backup announcing at Rosecroft and doing some other miscellaneous jobs at the track and now, just half a year later, I'm at Freehold and the Meadowlands. How do you fit your New Jersey Harness Racing activities in while working for Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland? Given current circumstances, it actually isn't too hard. Pre-COVID, going into an office every day would have been difficult, but now everyone is working from home, which makes it easier to get my engineering work done for the day. In the near future, it sounds like I could be returning to the office one day a week for my weekly status meeting, but likely I will still be working from home the rest of the week. Speaking of time, it seems you pop up on social media at tracks all over the place. Is it just youthful exuberance that has you taking in everything racing has to offer? I definitely try to enjoy travel while I have the time and energy to do a lot of it. I enjoy going to different tracks, talking to fans about racing and seeing different places. I may be slowed down a little bit for the near future though as I now have a new 10-week old puppy to take care of. Do you see Harness Racing as your future or a side job you hope to keep to satisfy the itch of being part of the sport? Good question! At this point, I'm just glad I'm able to balance all of my work life and I intend to continue to do both for as long as I can. Eventually I may have to make a decision one way or another, but I definitely hope to be a part of the sport in at least some way for the foreseeable future. You seem to be a natural on the air. Did announcing and on-air work come easily for you? It really did honestly. I came into Rosecroft on my first night with no experience and was able to pick it all up pretty quickly, but I still like to think that I'm learning and improving all the time. I really must give a shout-out to our General Manager Lisa Watts and our Racing Secretary Pete Hanley at Rosecroft for giving a college senior with absolutely no experience whatsoever the opportunity they did a few years ago. What was your favorite moment so far in harness racing? I've made many great memories so far in harness racing, but calling the Dexter Cup for the first time this past year was a really cool experience. It was the biggest race I've called so far in my career and it was amazing to see and hear the fans during the races, and also to see and call some of the biggest human and equine athletes in our sport on our track at Freehold. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Which is your favorite horse from your time in the sport? MACHO MCGRAW, a little-known 13- or 14-year-old horse on the Maryland racing circuit. He picked up some checks in his career, but only won 6 or so races from over 250 starts. However, one of those wins was at Ocean Downs during one of my first couple trips to the track and closed out a nice Pick 3 score for me. Since then, I've always liked rooting for the guy! What is the best advice you've ever gotten about harness racing? Network, network, network because you never know when an opportunity may come up. My job at Freehold, some fill-in jobs, fair race calling gigs, and more have all come to be because of my networking and being in the right place at the right time. If you could meet anyone from harness racing history, who would it be with and why? Sam McKee. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of racing yet during McKee's career, but I have heard so many great things about him and have listened to and watched so many of his legendary calls. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? Eliminate post drag! I know post drag is a controversial topic and I see both sides of the argument, but personally as an employee, fan and horseplayer, I wish all tracks would eliminate post drag so fans know when the clock says "0 MTP", it really does mean 0 minutes to post. How do you view the future of harness racing? I think and hope harness racing has a pretty good future. I've got pretty good optimism for the future after seeing our crowds and handle at the Meadowlands in the first half of 2021 and we've been able to put together some good, full cards at Rosecroft and Freehold recently with lots of horses entered. At Rosecroft in particular, there's a lot of new, young drivers and lots of claims going through as well -- both pretty good signs for the future. As a young person involved in the sport, how do we get others of your generation to embrace Harness Racing? Well, I think two things need to be focused on to get young people interested in the sport: fixed-odds gambling and free past performances. So many people in my generation love sports betting, but don't exactly get the whole pari-mutuel wagering concept. Fixed-odds betting coming to New Jersey and the Meadowlands in the near future could be a big game changer in that sense. Continuing on the horse racing vs. sports betting idea, you can get any information and stats for free as a sports bettor, but still have to pay for past performances at many racetracks. Hopefully someday soon all tracks will have free PPs, but in the meantime, it is promising to see how many tracks have recently started giving free PPs to horseplayers. What do you think of your given nickname of "The Mad Hatter"? Growing up I've been called Edison, Eddie, Ed, plus a whole lot of other (weirder) nicknames by friends as well. I'll answer to anything! Time for the stretch drive: Best Horse You Ever Saw?: Manchego. Best Driver Ever?: Dexter Dunn. Best Trainer Ever?: Ron Burke. Favorite TV Show?: The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Trotters or Pacers?: Trotters.