Owner Alan Katz has been around harness racing for most of his life and races under the moniker 3 Brothers Stable, representing himself as well as his brothers Ronnie and the recently deceased Steve. Whether at baby races, for big stakes events, or in this case the Harrisburg sale, you can often find Alan in attendance, even if he admits to going to the track less now than in the past. The Brooklyn, New York native needed a bit of cajoling from his trainer Nancy Takter to participate in this interview, so when her name comes up quite often, you'll know why. Once in "talk" mode, Katz had plenty to say about his journey in the Harness Racing as well as the current state of the sport and where it is headed in the future. Enjoy! How did you get started in harness racing? We used to go to Monticello and Roosevelt. My whole family -- my parents, my brothers -- loved it because it brought us entertainment. How did you become an owner? My father and mother would go down to the track; they didn't play golf; they didn't go boating. They liked going to the races. One thing led to another and they met Morty Finder. We bought our first horses from Pine Hollow Stud the first year. That was about 1977 and it grew from there. You have a few trainers that you use. Why did you choose those people? Integrity and results. We like to have conversations and talk to our trainers. We are loyal to our trainers. We haven't had a lot of them. Rumor has it you drive trainer Nancy Takter crazy. Is that true? 100% no. Maybe if she would answer her phone and stop texting, we would have a better relationship, but you are not going to teach her anything at this stage, and you can ask her dad [Hall of Famer Jimmy Takter] if I'm telling the truth. I called Nancy a month ago in the car on a Sunday. It was like 3pm and I had to make a decision to do something. She picks up the phone and says 'Alan I can't hear you because my [car] hood is down.' [Nancy Takter laughing: "I was thinking to myself I really don't want to talk to Alan right now."] I was thinking, would you say that to Marvin Katz? She loves texting and we love talking. All of my trainers talk. [Nancy Takter laughing: "I give Alan at least three weeks of my life every year on the phone."] I told this to Jimmy Takter, I told this to Ronnie Burke and I'll tell it to any trainer who I work with, we've never been in the business to make money. We are in it to enjoy ourselves. When I told it to Burke he was flabbergasted. He said, 'Alan I make money every year.' I said that I don't. The only way we make money is with the stallions. You cannot make money with just racehorses, unless you are Burke. Are you an easy owner to have? Yes [Nancy Takter agreed: "He always pays his bills"]. I just like to complain. She likes to complain too. I used to complain about drivers picking off my horses but I've gotten over that. What bothers me is traveling expenses for the drivers. They get private planes to go to the stakes races and the owners are paying. If one of the drivers are in 10 races, why shouldn't they split up the costs over the 10 drives. What if the driver gets hurt in race 1 and he can't drive in race 8 that I'm in after I paid $3,000 for him to get there? What do I do? If seven drivers go to Hoosier Park for the Breeders Crown and all seven are running in divisions for hundreds of thousands, why can't they pay? There are certain races where drivers can get together with the owner and say that they have to get from the Adios in the day to The Meadowlands at night and they need a private plane. I'll buy that. If they have to go to Canada, I buy it. But to go to the Breeders Crown where they are in seven or eight races? I'd like to tell them we'll just use local drivers. Then they'll pay. I blame the trainers because they don't stick up to them. What kind of car do you drive? Lexus. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Pizza. I don't snack much. Pizza and bagels are my two favorite foods. I'm not a good eater. What is your favorite track to visit and why? My favorite track closed, Roosevelt Raceway. We only lived about a half-hour away. It was very enjoyable and had good crowds. Today we only go to the track if we have a good horse racing; Meadowlands, obviously. What is your favorite big event in racing and why? Meadowlands Pace. I've always wanted to win it and never did. There is definitely hope. We've been close. How often is racing on your mind? 24/7. What is your favorite thing to do outside of racing? Only other thing I do is work; make a living. What do you do for a living? Linen supply. It is a family business we've had for a long time. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Hockey -- New York Rangers. What is one thing about you that most fans or bettors don't know? All of the trainers call me "the coach" because I like to explain to them ways of correcting their mistakes. [Nancy Takter: Something else people don't know is that [Alan] is one of the breeders of Mr Muscleman]. My partner was George Segal. We sold him for $1,900. You've been involved in the sport a long time. Do you think you know better than the trainers? On certain things I do. I never get involved with the actual training. For example -- using Nancy [Takter] since she is sitting next to me -- a few years ago we had a horse in a big race in Canada and we called her up and said we wanted to scratch because we had the 10-hole. We wanted to run four or five days later in Tioga. She said, 'are you nuts?' I called her father and he said, 'Alan, you are 100% right.' I told him to convince his daughter. I told Brett Pelling one year to scratch out of the [Little Brown] Jug when we drew the eight-hole and he said, 'you can't scratch'. I said why? He raced the horse and he's still running. So when I say managing, I know my trainers are great at what they do, but I focus on the little things that need to get done. I like to be involved with staking and preparing the schedule that we think is right. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Exciting. We are at a yearling sale right now. What role do you play in the yearling selection process? We talk to our trainers, go over the breeding and conformation, what stallions we want. At this stage we want to invest in our own stallions like Captain Crunch. We want to give them every opportunity to be a top stallion. We support JK Endofanera. We still buy other stallions like Captaintreacherous, obviously. Perhaps some of the people here have an unlimited budget. Are you budget-minded or have you reached the point where if you want a horse you are getting it? You are always under a budget. For example, yesterday we loved a trotter and it went for $500,000. We stopped at about $350,000. If you call that a budget, then that's a budget. What is the best advice you've gotten about harness racing? Get rid of them when they stink. Don't bring them back if they don't show anything at [age] 2. Your first loss is your best loss. I learned that the hard way. If they have problems at 2 they don't go away at 3. That is another thing with trainers, they hate selling horses. To get Nancy to sell a horse is like pulling teeth . . . Like No Lou Zing, she never wanted to sell. So when I say managing or coaching a trainer, that's when we want to have some input. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter What is the best moment you've had in harness racing? JK Endofanera winning the North America Cup and JK She'salady in 2014; it's a pick'em. Which is the best horse you've ever owned? JK She'salady. Throughout the years you've had a lot of good horses. Is there one you feel sentimentally close to? The homebreds, the JK horses. We definitely feel differently about them. But having Captain Crunch, years ago with Ronnie Gurfein and Higher Power, Giant Force, those were great horses for us. At 64, what keeps you motivated and involved in the sport? It's exciting. We like to go to the barns, watch them train, breeding, speaking to our trainers and communicating. It is part of our lives. Do you spend more time with the horses or your regular job? 50/50. On weekends I like to go down to the barn and look at the babies and watch the yearlings train down; make decisions. You are listed under the 3 Brothers Stable. What role does Ronnie play? Him and his wife Mardi enjoy it, but we definitely miss Stevie. He was the one that started 3 Brothers Stable. He loved the horses the most of the three of us. When he passed, we are still going to use 3 Brothers. We are not going to change that name. We miss him. When the horses used to lose it was a personal affront to him. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? Get rid of the drug trainers. Do you think ridding the sport of trainers who use illegal drugs is possible? No. I think they are way ahead of us. I'd love to see it happen. I'd love to see fans come back to the game. It is so depressing to see 20 people in the grandstand. I'm not optimistic about the future. I'm actually surprised how the sales can be this strong. Why are you so surprised by the sales considering how high overnight purses are right now? Because everyone is complaining and purses haven't increased in 30 years. We don't race in overnights, just stakes. The Meadowlands Pace, when I had horses with George Berkner, was more money than it is today. Expenses have gone way up in the last 25 years -- trucking, vet bills. Horses have to make $80,000 just as a break-even point. I think 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds should race for more money, especially at The Meadowlands. They don't give you an opportunity for 3-year-olds to run for good money. A green 3-year-old should have a $20,000 minimum non-winners of 2 races purse. Wouldn't you say that The Meadowlands has tried to put out races for young horses with series like the Kindergarten? No. What about years ago when Joe DeFrank was around. They had the Aquarius, the Trendsetter, $25,000 claimers for 3-year-olds, the Blossom. I loved those. There used to be multiple divisions. The racing was competitive. You had to win a division of the Trendsetter to make the final. Today the Kindergarten is two divisions maybe. The Kindergarten conflicts with all the other races. The scheduling is terrible. The New Jersey Sire Stakes is way too early. And like I said, if I have a green 3-year-old, where am I racing them? I hate a half-mile track. If you go to The Meadowlands you have to go 1:54 for $10,000. So a lot of people wait until March and go to Pocono for the Weiss Series to educate 3-year-olds. What do you have against half-mile tracks? They ruin horses, getting around the turns. If you have a good 2-year-old, you ruin them racing on a half-mile track. Time for the stretch drive... Best horse you ever saw? Somebeachsomewhere. Best driver ever? John Campbell Best trainer ever? Brett Pelling and Takters, Nancy and Jimmy. Lasix: Yes or No? Yes. Favorite TV show? Seinfeld. Trotters of Pacers? I bought a trotter this year but mainly pacers. Why do you stick with pacers? [Nancy Takter laughing: Because he would really drive his trainers crazy if he had trotters]. We had trotters with Per Erikkson. We won the International. When Per Erikkson closed shop up we had no outlets for a trotting trainer. My mother loved trotters. We talked a lot about you coaching trainers. Did you ever stop using a trainer because they didn't want to be coached by you? Truthfully, no. I just complain but they don't listen. I'm like Rodney Dangerfield.