What kind of car do you drive? Mercedes 250 Coupe. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Steak; Trail Mix. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? Probably Freehold. It’s close to home. I know the track pretty good and usually have considerably more power there than at some of the other tracks. What is your favorite event in racing? Hambletonian. Do you usually attend the Hambletonian? I usually have something racing, but if I don’t it is usually a day that I go. Most of the time  we are racing that night at Yonkers, so when we are done at the barn we’ll go and then I’ll push off for Yonkers that night. When you leave the track, are the races still on your mind? Oh God, yeah, unfortunately; usually in a bad way more than good. What is your favorite thing to do outside of racing? Go to the gym. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Football – New England Patriots. So it wasn’t a good end for you with the Patriots? No, but it has been a good run for about 20 years. We kinda new it was coming. I can’t complain. I live in New Jersey with Jets fans all around me, so I have my Patriots flag and advertisement always hanging in front of my house. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don’t know? That I have a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering and I have an unlimited Coast Guard license for steam and diesel. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Enjoyment. How did you get started in harness racing? When I was in high school, I had a baseball coach that had a few horses racing at Rockingham and Foxboro. I used to go to the races with him once in a while and on the weekends, he would go to the barn at Foxboro to see his horses and I would tag along, and that’s how I got the bug hooked into me. What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten about harness racing? It’s not about the little picture, it’s all about the big picture. Everything should be taken over a long period of time. What was your best moment in harness racing? Winning the Valley Victory with Garden Spot (2002, Meadowlands), because I actually owned the horse myself. Is there a race that you dream about winning? The Hambletonian. I was in it three or four times but never really had much of a shot. Is winning the Hambletonian a reality for you? It has gotten tougher and tougher. When I did well with Garden Spot and won races like the Matron and Sire Stakes, it was at a time when you could buy horses from the $15,000 to $30,000 range and still compete. There were more pacers than trotters. There was more time and patience involved with doing it. Now all these big trainers group owners together and anything with a decent pedigree they buy and overpay for. For the most part, I buy them myself. To give six figures for a baby is just not possible anymore. Three of the best trotters I’ve bought, they were all $17,000 or less. It is harder to do that now than it used to be. Which is the best horse you’ve ever driven? Shady Character. I bought him, broke him, trained him and drove him some. That was a swing in the game for me because it tied me into Sandy Goldfarb. I’m still tied up with him now in other business things and Thoroughbreds. I’m actually trying to get him to buy a horse with us at the sale on Monday (Winter Mixed). He’s been putting some syndicates together with people buying and claiming Thoroughbreds and he’s on his second syndicate. I’m actually in the first one for a small piece because he’s always put me in good investments, so when he asked me I took a piece. He was great for this game for a long time. He brought a lot of people into the game with a lot of money, and they all paid their bills. When it came to syndicating Shady Character, he kind of got snubbed out by the cliques and it put a sour taste in his mouth. He never really came back after that. Do you have a driving style? Oh yeah. I’m a patient off the pace driver. I’m a closer, really. It fits in with the fact that I do something which is rarer now, I’m a driver-trainer. Unfortunately, if I overdrive one, I’m the guy that has to go down and look at them in the barn the next morning; not a catch-driver. The horses’ longevity in their careers is more important to me than any one particular race. Over the years that has affected my catch-driving career because people have had that in the back of their heads. They don’t think I can leave, but when I have to, I do. I don’t ever want to put a horse in a bad spot where they can get hurt for a few weeks. When you leave with a horse, you probably win about 70% of the time, right? That’s right. Because of the way I drive, and I don’t leave with bad horses like some guys do, if I have a horse that is 12-1, 13-1, 14-1 and leave the gate, the other guys know I have a horse that is going to carry them where they want to go. The Valley Victory that I won, I was 15-1 and I moved the horse to the lead. Normally some guys would’ve gotten hung out but they figured if I was coming there must be a reason. You mentioned yourself as a driver-trainer, but technically you are not listed as trainer. What’s the deal? My girlfriend (Karen Garland) runs the barn and is responsible for everything. When I say I have a barn, I’m meaning I own a lot of horses. The horses Karen has, I probably own a part of all of them. A lot of these catch drivers, they might own one or two, but a large majority that I drive are mine. You have 4,177 wins (as of 1/14/20). What does that total mean to you? I’m a guy that came into the business backwards and started late, and the only person in my family who’s in it. I never drove a horse until I graduated college. For someone that started that way and never had big owners to drive for, to grind out 5,000 wins, I’m hoping I can get there, I think that’s pretty good. What drives you at this point in your career? Just competitiveness. I love to race and I love driving. When I first came here, Ross Croghan said to me, ‘It’s tough to drive horses out here. You should probably just train horses.’ I said, to be honest with you, that is the only thing that gets me up in the morning. If I was just training horses for someone else, I probably wouldn’t do it. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? Medication testing. I just get annoyed sometimes when I see the horses from some outfits perform and I know how much time they spend with them. Has the recent legislation in New Jersey affected your career in any way? Yes. It has gotten some more horses back to Freehold and Meadowlands. You can still earn a decent living as a catch-driver at Freehold. The influx of the money has really helped. How do you view the future of harness racing? Right now, thank God, we are on an upswing. All of the farms are looking to breed more mares. I think we are in a good spot. Has your career progressed as you expected? Yeah. I would’ve liked to have more opportunity to catch-drive, but as I said, my style stopped that. It took me a while to realize it, but I do now. It is what it is. If you had one wish, what would it be? That my mother was still around. My mother passed away young and she was one of my biggest fans. When I first started, because of my engineering degree, my father was a little skeptical about it. He’s on board now, but my mother was always on board. How much of driving is the horse and how much is the driver? I’d say it is 90% power (horse). What’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Best Horse Ever: Muscle Hill Best Trainer: I always liked old school guys like the Remmens and the Dohertys. It is hard to pick one person. Favorite horse ever in your barn: Forest Vic A – He was an import that came over as a 7-year-old with $65,000 on his card and he made $1 million racing at Yonkers on Saturday nights. He took his lifetime mark in the last start of his life at The Meadowlands – 1:50 flat. Lasix – Yes or No?: Yes Best place to eat around Freehold? Brioso