Owner Michael Cote Gagnon has his first experience with harness racing when he was 10 years old and it sparked an obvious lifelong passion. The Quebec native owned his first horse at 16 and he now owns some top horses including recent Three Diamonds winner Zanatta. The affable owner took time out from his schedule to discuss his journey in harness racing, how he ended up in the Bongiorno barn and much more. Enjoy!  How did you get involved in harness racing? I was 10 years old when my mother claimed a horse at the Quebec City racetrack. It was a friend of hers who introduced her into the business. My mother used to ride horses when she was young and she always loved horses. Harness racing was new for our family but we had that horse in the 90's. I stuck with it because I love the game. I was betting on horses before I was allowed and became a fan of the sport early. I bought my first horse when I was 16. That first purchase was in 1998 and you've kept a small stable most years since. What changed in recent years that you've bought high-level horses? I love the animal more than anything and have always been impressed with the importance of the horse throughout history. In life we start walking before running. I grew up with the ups and downs. We were really unlucky with the racing industry in Quebec. When the industry collapsed in 2008 due to a lot of mistakes, most of the people had to leave for Ontario or the U.S.A. I started out to try to find my sweet spot in the game because we only had one small racetrack in Quebec -- Trois-Rivieres. That wasn't the game I was looking for after spending time with Dan Dube in New York in the late 1990s and 2000s and seeing the American harness dream. I started to look at horses in the USA and I picked up Nicholas Beach at the Harrisburg sale in 2017. That was my first big move in the United States. For me he was a turning point in moving to the next level in enjoying the Grand Circuit races. After spending two years in the Bongiorno's stable, I decide to invest more in babies. I also went with the Millers and we've been lucky to have French Wine with my partner Daniel Plouffe. Do you still live in Canada? I share my time between Canada and Florida. We have a 10-acre equestrian property in Palm Beach County. It is not for harness horses but for dressage and jumpers. I bought it in 2017 and we've made some improvements. It is a lovely property with 16 stall barns. You now race under the name One Legend Stable. Why did you choose that? It was named after my mother who passed away two years ago. Most of my friends called her "The Legend." She was really special and an impressive character.  What do you do for a living? At age 40 I'm semi-retired. I sold many of my companies. I was in human resources, a staffing company. I used to employ over a thousand employees in Canada over the last 20 years. I sold part of the company a month before COVID started and sold the other part late in April this year. I still do business now with real estate and focus on the horse business. What kind of car do you drive? Porsche 911. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Lobster. Poutine -- It is a Quebec dish with French fries, cheese and brown gravy. What is your favorite track to visit? Why? The Meadowlands because to go to the track and see the Empire State building in the background . . . there is something about that huge track sitting just outside "The Big Apple." What is your favorite big event in racing? The Hambletonian. How often are horses or racing on your mind? Many times a day. I'm always looking at entries or replays, though it depends on the time of the year. Sometimes we are busier with staking.  What is your favorite thing to do outside of the sport? Traveling. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Hockey -- Montreal Canadians. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I was a blonde-haired baby. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Dream. What was your best moment in harness racing? Winning the Three Diamonds final on Saturday [Nov. 26] with Zanatta. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Speaking of Zanatta. After watching her win the Three Diamonds impressively, how excited are you for next year? We knew that she was good. The way she raced on Saturday, with the toughest mile a horse can have, pulling out first-over versus that category of top fillies, she was vicious. She showed us that she is greater than I thought. I'm really excited and looking forward to her as a 3-year-old. You decided to use Dan Dube to drive with Joe Bongiorno sidelined. Was that because of your past connections to him? It is about many things. It is about friendship. It is about admiration. It is a game of emotions and connections. He was my top choice and I was glad that he was available and not racing at Yonkers that night. In my mind, while Danny is no longer driving on the Grand Circuit for many reasons -- he's older now and not someone that sells himself well -- he is still one of the best drivers. He has guts. He has instincts. He's a fighter.  How did you end up with Joe and Jenn Bongiorno? The honest answer is that Nicholas Beach was trained by Rene Allard. Brian Sears had a share in Nicholas Beach at the time and Rene proposed to me moving the horse to the Bongiornos. I didn't know them but they seemed to be doing good. We didn't know the gravity of what was going to happen with Allard. I thought it was just going to be for a short time not knowing what I know now. A few years later we are still with them. You also mentioned owning Kentucky Sire Stakes champion French Wine. How did you end up with trainer Julie Miller on that trotting colt? Because Daniel Plouffe is a great friend of mine. For many years we wanted to have horses together but we are both opinionated about horse pedigree and conformation. We had to pick one we both liked. French Wine, who was HIP 45 at Lexington, was one of our top choices. Danny said that he is with the Millers for trotters. I knew them but I had never had the opportunity to do business with them. We bid on French Wine and they wanted a percentage, so they own 10% and we have the rest.  How many horses do you own? Probably close to 15. You bought a number of babies at the sale. Is that you taking a big plunge into ownership? This year I bought five. I have already a Bettor's Wish colt [Royal Desire] out of the great Call Me Queen Be with Let It Ride Stables. I have two more trotting colts, two trotting fillies and one beautiful Captaintreacherous filly. Are you considering breeding horses? I'm looking to start back up with that in the future. I've bought some fillies in the last couple of years. I have Bella Ciao, who is in the family of Bella Bellini. Eventually we will breed her. I hope she is good at 3 years old. She's good but she has some attitude trouble. She showed some talent winning her first start winning in 1:55 at The Meadowlands this year. We decided to turn her out because she is complicated.  I noticed you own a perfect record as a trainer with one win in as many starts and have driven a dozen times in your life. Why didn't you pursue either of those avenues? Because I have no talent as a driver [laughing]. The training win is funny because I had a broodmare that was almost done with racing and in the winter I decided to put the harness and sleigh on her during Christmas time. The ranch manager told me I should race her one time for fun because she is sharp and would race well. So I said ok, let's do that. I trained her for like two weeks on a snow track and she raced incredible. I think she had the pocket trip and she passed like a super rocket. Everyone said I should race her again, but she wasn't even supposed to race that time and I wanted her to finish her career on a win. Plus I have a 1000 UTRS because it is the only start I have in my career. If you could change one thing about harness racing, what would it be? Personally I would make it so there is no racing on Sundays. We all need to rest. People are working crazy all week long. They should be able to race Saturday night and start back on Monday afternoon. It would be good for grooms, for drivers, for families. We don't need to bet on horse races every day.  How do you view the future of harness racing? There is a challenge to bring a new generation into the game. I'm probably one of the youngest people involved at my level, but every level is important because we need overnight races to make it work. To be honest I'm a bit worried. It is more expensive than ever to own a horse and purses don't always meet the cost of training horses. The horses are more expensive than ever, too. In the stakes races, we are racing for the same money as five to seven years ago when the horses were 40 to 50% cheaper than today.  Time for the stretch drive... Best Horse you ever saw? In my mind there is no doubt that as a racehorse, sire and broodmare sire, Artsplace is the best ever. Best Driver Ever? I think John Campbell is still the best.  Lasix -- Yes or No? Yes. Favorite TV Show? House Of Cards. Trotters or Pacers? Trotters.