Owner Don Tiger grew up watching and participating in Harness Racing at The Meadows and rose to fame via his star pacer Charlie May, who was disqualified in the 2021 Meadowlands Pace. The pair got redemption of sorts on July 15 when Charlie May won the Haughton, so now seemed like the perfect time to sit down with the 52-year-old owner to discuss his time in the sport, lawsuits and more. Enjoy!   How did you get started in harness racing? I grew up about 10 minutes from The Meadows and when I heard Roger Huston’s voice I got sucked in. I started grooming horses about the age of 14 or 15. I stayed involved as a handicapper, fan and groom. I kind of mentored and worked with a guy named Pat Thomas. He was the second trainer for the Stillings stable at the time, so I was able to be around some pretty good horse flesh. Eventually I got to that crossroads where I could go to college because I could dribble a basketball and I ended up getting an education, but I never got away from it. After college when I started making money with my day job I started buying Thoroughbreds, because that is when casinos first came in and West Virginia was one of the first places to have them. I just applied everything I learned in the harness game to Thoroughbreds and became a decent owner. When the casinos came to Pennsylvania that is when I started buying harness horses. When you first started owning Standardbreds in 2009 you had some partners but now you are solo. Why? I love partners and I’ve had some very good ones over the years – Jim Magno and Joe Fonte were just a couple of the exceptional ones over the years. Sometimes you make unpopular decisions that the group doesn’t like and it just kind of stumbled that way where I just started buying horses and was the only one taking the risk on them. It wasn’t by design. The first horse I bought on my own was Sam Hill and he ended up making me $700,000. He is really the keystone of the operation and afforded me the opportunity to keep buying on my own. It made it a little easier because since I grew up on the backside, when a horse needed time off I would give it to them, turn them out and be patient. Sometimes partners aren’t as patient and they want instant success. So being solo allowed me to run the stable more like I thought it should be run. You also had a number of horses at one point but now have only two. Why did you cut back? That’s a good question. I’ve had a lot of fun and I’ve had a lot of success for such a small stable and sample that I’ve kind of made my mark and had my fun. I guess there is only so much magic in the bottle. I’ve had claimers that have done well, I’ve had stakes horses that have done well and I feel a sense of accomplishment. I’m not retiring but I’ve scaled back because I feel like I’ve accomplished what I’ve needed to accomplish.  Your name got into the mainstream conversation with Charlie May when he was disqualified from first in the 2021 Meadowlands Pace. Is that lawsuit still ongoing? Yes, we actually won in the administrative law proceedings but the New Jersey Racing Commission did not accept those proceedings, which actually is an arbitrary and capricious ruling of law. The only way they cannot accept the proceedings is if they feel there was a misstatement of fact. It is in appellate court right now and it will be adjudicated probably in October of 2023. Has it been worth the hassle? Yes. Obviously it was an uphill battle, David versus Goliath story, something that was unprecedented in the industry. To get the original ruling from the judge after providing all of the facts – the video, due process, how it was handled that night – it is going to change racing. It is not going to help me because I can never get that moment back. If I get a monetary reward or my name back in the record book after it is all adjudicated, it doesn’t matter. You can’t get back the excitement and fun that could’ve happened that day. This is not for me, it is for horse racing, so I’m trying to get it right. Just like every other sport where they want to get the result right. We are a little behind in that with harness and thoroughbred racing right now. Lawsuits, cases like this and bringing things to the mainstream media make the system a little better so that it doesn’t happen again. While we don’t agree on the Meadowlands Pace ruling, you were involved with another disqualification on June 3 (Race 1 – Scioto Downs) where we do see eye to eye. Are you still fighting that and where does it stand? That one I have an appeal in the Franklin County courts. It is in the early stages and I don’t believe there has been any adjudication yet. We don’t have a hearing date. But yes, we are taking up the same fight there. In the disqualification my horse was clear by a few lengths and took a bad step because Brett [Miller] went to pull the ear plugs and missed them and spooked the horse for a second. I spoke to all of the folks behind him in the race and they were all like ‘he didn’t interfere with us. We didn’t grab up or anything.’ At the end of the day, if the judge would’ve called the paddock and talked to a couple of the drivers in behind my horse, they would’ve said they were unaffected. My horse lost ground. The ideology again is to use what is available. The bylaws of the United States Trotting Association, the bylaws of Ohio and New Jersey say that the Judges should exhaust any and all means to protect the contestants and the wagering public. When you have an arbitrary and capricious decision you are not protecting the sanctity of the sport. So take five more minutes, get a complete picture of what was going on. That is what my lawsuits are about, changing the way they do inquires. I was always told the reason Judges don’t speak to drivers is because they don’t believe they will get the truth. What do you say to that? The same question goes to every police officer that pulls someone over for speeding. The first thing they ask is ‘were you speeding?’ The person might say ‘I wasn’t speeding’ but sometimes they might explain is with ‘I have a baby in the back seat and I’m rushing to the hospital’. You ask questions to find out more information. At the end of the day, the judges can take the information they gather, whether they feel it is skewed or what, to get a better depiction of the situation. When you talk to people you find out more than you know. It’s all about exhausting any and all measures. Moving to better moments, Charlie May just won the Haughton Memorial on July 15, exactly two years from the Pace debacle. Did you feel some redemption? Not really. A lot of other people did. I look at everything independently. I was excited and really satisfied, I lost my voice. I didn’t get to make it out to New Jersey because I had some other obligations. I was happy for the horse, I was happy for Steve Carter and everyone in Ohio. I guess if you look at that as redemption for the fans and the people in the industry, that’s great, but to me it was a great race and I was just glad to participate. He had a great trip and it worked out good. Sometimes the racing Gods correct the wrongs and maybe that happened. [DRF HARNESS: Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter] Are you surprised he won the Haughton? No. Will you stay home next time because he won without you there? No, I’m not overly superstitious, though he’s only raced in two stakes races this year and I have an orange carrot that I pulled out those days. We all have some superstition I guess. I’ll be there next time for sure. I’m a very hands-on owner and I go to about 95% of his races regardless of whether they are in New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana. Where will we see Charlie May next? He’s basically all Midwest the rest of the year, basically because you have to come up with the schedule in February when payments are due. Because the Breeders Crown is in Indiana this year and we have so many good Open races in Indiana and Ohio, pretty much every week he’ll go for good money out there. His next race is the #SendItIn at Scioto Downs on July 29. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Charlie May starts from post six in the 14th race at Scioto Downs on Saturday.] What is your favorite track to visit? Why? In Thoroughbred, Santa Anita, because the San Gabriel Mountains in the backdrop are just incredible. There is so much history there. I go there for every Breeders’ Cup. It is a great environment. For harness I would say probably Scioto Downs. I say that because it is a summer meet and they have a nice outdoor amphitheater that you can sit in, it is brand new but modeled after the old one. You don’t need a television and you can see the entire circumference of the track very well. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? In Thoroughbred the Breeders’ Cup, mainly because it is a culmination of horses from Europe, the United States and everywhere. Every race is a stakes race. It is a massive card. On the harness side I would have to say the Adios. The only reason it is at my hometown track and I’ve been to just about every one. It is a chance for the locals to see the best 3-year-olds in the country. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? I love baseball and I played in the minor leagues. There is nothing better than watching a ball game. Sometimes I’ll be driving down the road and I’ll see a pony league game or something as I’m travelling and I’ll pull over and watch the game. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Exciting. What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten or given about harness racing? Don’t get too high when things are going great, don’t get too low when things are going bad. What was your best moment in harness racing? Winning the Ohio Sire Stakes 2-year-old colt pace with Charlie May. There will never be a better moment than that, partially because he was second or third choice that day and everyone at the barn knew he was never going to lose. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? The administration bureaucracy. Do you think it is possible? I do. I’m a realist but I’m also a believer in the American Way and free thinking. I think when people can sit down and evaluate, it is very possible to change, but it has to start at the top. How do you view the future of harness racing? I think if the sport doesn’t change it won’t survive. What do you do for a living? Financial planning and mortgage banking. Time for the stretch drive… Best Horse you ever saw: Artsplace. Best Driver Ever: Walter Case Jr. He always had a lot of problems off the track but you could put him on a Non-winners of 1 at Northfield or a stakes horse and he would get the most out of either of them. Best Trainer ever: Steve Carter. He’s put his pants on the same every day for 43 years. He’s treated every horse in his barn the same. He hasn’t gotten the stock that a lot of other folks he’s gotten but he sure capitalized on Charlie May’s potential. Lasix – Yes or No: Yes. Favorite TV Show: I don’t watch TV unless it is baseball or harness racing.     Trotters or Pacers: Pacers.