What kind of car do you drive? Lexus. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Steak; Potato Chips. What is your favorite all-time track to visit? Meadowlands. It is just a class facility. What is your favorite big event in racing? Hambletonian. How often is racing on your mind? Every day. What is your favorite thing to do outside of racing? Play cards -- poker. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Football -- Pittsburgh Steelers. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I'm a soft touch. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Exciting. How did you get started in the sport? Years ago, because I thought I was a pretty good handicapper, I decided to start buying horses. I thought it would be easy, but it is not. I started going to the races in 1959 at Mountaineer in West Virginia and bought my first horse around 1995. What is the best advice you've ever gotten about harness racing? Don't trust a lot of people and keep the ones you can trust close. What was your favorite moment in harness racing? Winning the Breeders Crown with Heston Blue Chip. Woodbine had a contest where a guy won a $70,000 truck just for picking Heston. That guy was so excited. It was like a cherry on the top of the win seeing his reaction. Which is the best horse you've ever owned? Walner -- He's the best trotter in the world; period! He won most of his starts by open lengths and even broke once at Saratoga and made up about 25 lengths to win a New York Sire Stakes race. Which horse is/was your all-time favorite? Doctor Butch -- The doctor kind of saved my life and my wife, so I named the horse after him. Him and his family would come to watch him whenever he raced at Vernon Downs. Is there a race you haven't won but are still holding out hope to win? It has to be the Hambletonian. I came so close with Walner. How many horses do you own? 18 People talk about how hard it is to make money in the sport as an owner. Agree or disagree? I've made money every year. This might be the only year where I don't and that is because there was no racing for four months. You have to know what you are doing and need knowledge. It is that simple. Trainers often tell you what you want to hear. I want the truth. Some people will win a race and think their horse is better than they really are, but you can't do that. You have to put the horse where they can win. Relationships play a huge role in the sport. What is yours like with trainer Linda Toscano? She's a personal friend. We tell each other the truth and bounce ideas off each other when we are troubled. Are you an easy owner to work for? I think so. I pay my bills as soon as they arrive. If I don't feel a horse is good enough to compete I get rid of them. I guess you have to ask the trainers. As long as people tell me the truth we get along fine. I'm a big boy, I can handle it. When is the last time you didn't attend the Lexington Sale? At least 20 years. I'm not going to Maryland, either. My wife has breathing issues and the last thing I want to do is go and bring back anything that could hurt her. Has your absence changed anything in terms of your participation as a buyer? No. I do my research, a lot of it, watching a lot of videos. I know who I'm going to buy and I just tell each trainer to go after them. I already got a couple for Linda (Toscano) and I have to get some for the other trainers. I x-ray every horse that I'm going to buy and that helps me eliminate a lot of horses. Not too many people do that because it costs a lot of money, but if you are spending $200,000 on a horse, it makes sense to cover all the bases. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Ken Jacobs bought seven horses for a total of $882,000 in Lexington.] How happy were you with how Walner was received? One of them went for $725,000, so that's very good. I bought two for $360,000 total. He throws a nice horse. Of course they have to prove it on the track, but I don't have any doubts. You supported him by spending $200,000 and $160,000 on a pair by him on opening night. Did you settle for those or were they your top picks? They were both my top picks. I was actually shocked at how cheap the $160,000 one went for. Considering how Walner's career ended just before the Hambletonian, how sweet would it be to win that race with a Walner baby? That's why I'm buying all of these Walner yearlings. That's all I'm buying this year. I'm going to give it a shot. I still own a piece, so I get an annuity from him. You are now 83 years old. What motivates you in the sport? Just the love of the sport. There is nothing better than watching two horses fight it out down the lane. I don't think you can get better excitement than that. If you could choose any horse in history to own, which horse would it be and why? Walner -- He was the best. People don't know how good Walner was because I had to put him into stud duty so early. How has COVID-19 affected your life and business? I'm thankful in a lot of ways. My family is healthy. My grandkids all have good jobs and are still working. My only worry is keeping my wife safe. We are making the best of it. Luckily we have a big back patio and have been able to see our grandkids and great grandkids while social distancing. This situation really makes you realize how much you love your wife and family. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? Integrity. I don't know why they can't fix it. They know who is doing it (using illegal substances). Jeff (Gural) is doing all he can to fix it. It happens even in the Thoroughbreds. How do you view the future of harness racing? I hope it continues. It is a fun sport. We need to get more young people into it because most of us old guys are old and we need a young group. They have to find something to encourage that and the brains in this sport need to decide how to do it. We need to get everyone together in the sport. There are so many good people in this business. I just hope we can keep it all together. Time for the stretch drive: Best Horse You Ever Saw: Walner or Niatross. Best Driver Ever: John Campbell. Lasix -- Yes or No?: Yes -- If a horse is bleeding you have to help them. Favorite TV Show?: Seinfeld. Trotters or Pacers?: It was pacers but now it is trotters.