What kind of car do you drive? I just bought a new Mercedes, which was difficult because of the car shortage now.  Favorite dinner meal? Snack? I'm a native of New England, so I love Lobster; crackers and cheese are always nice at cocktail hour. What is your favorite track to visit? Why? The Red Mile. It has a nice atmosphere and I usually run into lots of old friends. They also have great racing. What is your favorite big event in racing? You can't beat the Hambletonian.  Have you won the Hambletonian before? I haven't, but I won the Oaks this year and a couple of times now. Generally I don't buy too many trotting colts and I concentrate on trotting fillies, but I do race some homebreds. We would love to win that one. How often are horses or racing on your mind? It is pretty much by full-time business to me now, so constantly. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? I've always enjoyed boating and I've had a number of boats big and small over the years. I just bought a new boat a couple of years ago and I love to go out in it. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Pro Football -- New England Patriots. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I played a lot of baseball when I was younger. I played in the special services in the Army with Major League players for two years when I was in Europe and was offered a minor league contract but didn't pursue it. People probably look at me today with my body and think, 'How could he be a baseball player?' I don't look very fast, but that was my strength at the time. Not anymore.  What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Competition. How did you get started in harness racing? When I was younger my dad had horses and raced on the New England fair circuit. He didn't have any great stars. We actually owned a training track at home and I would jog horses. I guess it got into my blood at a young age. I used to train horses down in Florida during the winter but I never drove in a race. What has kept you in the sport as an owner? There are a bunch of reasons. First is the horse itself. It's an incredible animal and I love them. Secondly, I love the competition. Finally, I've met so many wonderful people. Great, great people, all very successful in their own careers. I've developed a tremendous amount of good friends in the business. I love the business. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter How many horses do you currently own? I've sold off about 10 in the last two weeks to get ready for the yearling sales. I probably have 35 total including broodmares and yearlings. At 83 now, would you characterize Harness Racing as your hobby or job?  [Laughing] I've always considered it a hobby, but when you get to the point where you have 35 horses, it is a job. What is the best advice you've ever gotten about harness racing? I've been around some great people, some of the best trainers and drivers in the business. One thing I've learned is that you have to move on no matter what happens. You are going to get kicked in the rear-end more than you are going to stand up and celebrate. Like in any sport, you have to throw the game out after it is over and you can't dwell on it.  What was your best moment in harness racing? There have been so many. I won the Little Brown Jug a couple of times when I mostly had pacers and obviously some of the great horses I have won Breeders Crowns. Last weekend winning the million-dollar race in Canada with Venerable. That has to be near the top as well. Looking back at it a few days later, what are your thoughts on Venerable's Mohawk Million victory? I think that it is pretty amazing considering she drew the 9-hole versus some colts and nice horses. It was a tough race and she really earned it. She kept charging through the wire.  It sounds like Venerable will race in the Breeders Crown and call it a year? Yeah, we'll skip Lexington. It probably makes sense. She's had close to 10 starts at the highest level and earned close to $1 million. We don't want to get greedy and we want to keep her good for next year. Do you allow yourself to think ahead to the Hambletonian or Oaks? You have to, that's what we are in it for. You have to dream big. That's the ultimate prize in our business. I just hope she stays healthy and comes back good. So you're saying that going against the boys in the Hambletonian is on the radar? That's a possibility. We'll certainly have to put that on the burner to talk about.  Which is the best horse you've ever owned? It would be hard to knock Bee A Magician. She made $4 million and was Horse of the Year in Canada and the U.S. She was undefeated as a 3-year-old. Up to now I'd have to say she has been the best one. You own some of your horses in partnership and some solo. What goes into that decision? Some of the ones I own myself are pretty much homebreds. I have a lot of good partners and I enjoy having them as long as they understand the game and they don't get too involved beyond what the trainer wants to do. I'm pretty happy with partners and the great thing about having them is if they understand the race and the game, you get good conversation.  Is it harder to have partners in terms of decision making? I try to hold a controlling amount of each horse so I can have a significant say in the decision, but gosh, I have awfully good trainers with the Nifty Normans and Brett Pellings of the worlds. They don't need too much guidance from the owners. You mentioned Nifty Norman. What is that relationship like? We have a wonderful relationship. Nifty and I go back a long time, perhaps not as far back as with Brett [Pelling], though Nifty worked for Brett at the time. I didn't have any hesitancy moving my horses to Nifty when Brett left to go back to Australia. We've had such a good run. I consider him a friend as much as anything else. You own perhaps the best 2- and 3-year-old trotting fillies in the sport right now with the undefeated Venerable and Hambletonian Oaks winner Bella Bellini. Do you consider trotting fillies your niche? I think so. I've had so many good ones over the years that I could probably list 25-30 off the top of my head. The residual value is so good if you want to dabble into breeding. I don't enjoy breeding as much as the racing side, so I don't always keep my best fillies. I do have a number of them. If I don't keep the fillies, their yearlings are the first ones I look at when going to the sales because I know them so well. You also breed. How many broodmares do you own? 10 or so. I own Papi Rob Hanover and we just started him at Hanover, so I'm breeding a half-dozen to him. In a quiet moment, do you sometimes think about what could've been with Papi Rob Hanover? Oh my God, for sure. I wish he could've had the opportunity to show how great he was. We brought him along very cautiously at 2 and 3 with eyes towards bigger stakes later in the year. Before he got there in his sophomore year, he broke a bone and never got to show what he could do. He did set a world record in an elimination for the Adios. World Records are significant but I think he had a lot more to show and was just starting to peak at that time.  How would you rate yourself as an owner? Are you laid back or more hands-on? Well, I'm hands-on in terms of wanting to know what is going on with every horse on a fairly regular basis, but I'm not hands-on with the staking. I'm very hands-on when it comes to yearling purchases but not with the training side of it. What about as a yearling selector? How would you rate yourself? I think I have a fairly good eye for what I'm looking for, but I don't rely 100% on my own evaluation. I involve the trainer that I think will have the horse and I'll listen to anything that they may have picked up on.  Are you more of a conformation guy or a pedigree guy? Everything starts with pedigree because I don't get to see the horses until a week or so before the sale, but I'm very into conformation. Once we narrow down the breeding side of it, I definitely want to take a look at the conformation. We are probably over-critical. We look at these yearlings and we reject horses for small flaws and then you go into the paddock on Saturday during the summer months at The Meadowlands when the Grand Circuit is there and you see all those rejected horses in those races and think 'I never thought he'd get to the races the way he stands.' We are very picky at the yearling sales, but that doesn't mean they are not going to have the heart to overcome minor flaws.  If you are sitting at Fasig-Tipton and have your mind set on getting a specific horse, is there anything -- price or otherwise -- that would make you change your mind? If I have my mind set on a horse, there haven't been too many over the years I haven't ended up overpaying for. Everyone who buys a horse, you are the highest bidder and in many cases you overpaid. It is good to have discipline, but I tend to get a bit more aggressive at sales than I should. I've done pretty well at it, so I'm not going to change anything.  If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I'd love to see a racing commissioner that all states buy into and we could have consistency from one end of the spectrum to the other. We could have somebody in charge that could enforce the rules of the game. Right now it is such a mess with all the different rules of the States. I don't know if some of the people are incompetent and if it is just because they are political appointees, but they don't do their jobs. There is such inconsistency in some of the decisions and it would be wonderful to have a voice of authority that was really consistent across the sport.  How do you view the future of harness racing? I'd like to see us independent without the support of casinos, but by the same token, before casinos came we could stand alone without help and we gave that up to support them. I guess in fairness they should continue to support us because of the opportunity that was given to them. The horse is always going to be the horse, they can't take that away from us. It is a wonderful animal who will do anything you ask them to do. It is a great sport. I think it will always be here. I hope it will get bigger. Right now, I know we complain a lot, but we are racing for a lot of money all over the place. These states are getting better programs all the time.  Time for the stretch drive.  Best Horse you ever saw: Cam Fella. He was such an amazing horse.   Best Driver: It is hard to beat John Campbell when he was at his best. I know racing has changed a bit since he was in his prime and now it is a game of full-out speed from the get-go, but man could he get a horse into the right position without using it. I'd have to say John is the best I've seen, but Mike Lachance was pretty good himself. Dave Miller keeps defying time. Dexter Dunn is unbelievable. There are a lot of good drivers around right now. Lasix -- Yes or No?: I don't know how to answer because I could go either way. It is complicated. Sometimes it is good to have it and other times I wish everyone could only race on hay and oats. Favorite TV Show?: I don't watch many TV shows. Mainly I watch the stock market every day and major sporting events. Trotters or Pacers?: The trotter is the natural gait and is the most beautiful thing to watch. I'm partial to trotters.