Mitchel Skolnick started his journey in harness racing working for his father at Southwind Farms and eventually wound up creating his own breeding operation under the Bluestone Farms banner. While the transition seems simple, it was anything but and Skolnick was kind enough to relive those moments for us. In addition to the broodmare operation at Bluestone, Skolnick has been involved with numerous stallions including Always B Miki. The well-educated 68-year-old took the time to discuss not only his professional life but harness racing in general. How did you get started in harness racing?  I was just out of college when my father set up a group to race three horses. He asked me to take care of the accounting, staking, and writing the owners as to the status of the three horses. Your late father (Allen) and mother (Connie) started Southwind Farms and you worked there at one point. Why did you leave? I had to. I was fired. Truly. I was fired. My father and I did not agree on a range of issues both personal and business.  We argued often and it seemed we lived in a constant state of quarreling. I think he finally reached a breaking point. Interesting when I reflect back on that time. I was angry.  I remember saying to him "Hell with you -- I'll open my own farm."  And here is a cautionary tale. Anger wears off. By the time it wore off for me -- I had 60 acres and a half a dozen horses. And there was no way to return to Southwind. Did you ever reconcile?  Never to the point either of us hoped to get to. Your brother Barry took over Southwind Farms. Do you have a good relationship with him?  I believe we do. We don't have much contact, but I don't know of any animosity -- at least on my part. Any distance between us today is more the result of collateral damage from that troublesome time I spent at Southwind Farm. You went out on your own and started Bluestone Farms in 1997 with Eric Freeman and Frank Russo. Why the name Bluestone?  Mal Burrows suggested that name to me. There is an abandoned Bluestone Quarry on part of the property. He thought it would make a good name for our new venture. 25 years later, have you achieved the goals of Bluestone Farms?  After I left Southwind I had some moments where I thought I might just get out of the Standardbred Racing and Breeding business. I shared my ambivalence with Paul Simmonds at the time.  He could not believe I would even consider leaving the business. He said: 'What a waste it would be not to use all you have learned and accomplished at Southwind in your own venture.' When I consider Paul's counsel and your question -- the answer is an unequivocal Yes.   And thank you for recognizing that Bluestone Farms is entering its 25th year in business. How many broodmares do you currently have at Bluestone Farms?  Bluestone Farms has 10 mares wholly owned by Bluestone and 15 mares with the Caldwell family (Cane Run Farm) that we each own 50% of. Who helped you most during your harness racing career?  Several people come to mind. First, somewhat begrudgingly, I would say my father. We may have been at loggerheads a lot, but I did learn some important lessons. Bob Boni's contributions to my knowledge and pursuits are immeasurable. I don't have words to express the extraordinary confidence Elizabeth and Rikki Caldwell have had in me as well as my partners Eric and Frank. Others like John Cashman, Fred Grant, Joe Holloway, Geoff Stein, Bob Stewart, Jim Crane, Harold Kelly, and Greg Peck come to mind.  Each in some way have played an integral part in my pursuits. What kind of car do you drive?  A Lexus RX450h SUV Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Probably a bowl of angel hair pasta with meat sauce and some garlic bread on the side. I am addicted to potato chips. What is your favorite track to visit? Why?  The Red Mile. For a few days in October, I get to sit with many friends, talk of the industry, and reminisce of horses and people while watching Grand Circuit races. It feels like coming home. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why?  I enjoy watching the Breeders Crown events. It is always of interest to me which horses have made it through a season of racing and have remained vital to the end. How often are horses or racing on your mind?  I live on a farm. I wake up looking at horses, see them as I walk to the office, when I am in the barn and as I walk home in the evening. Pretty much all the time would be the answer. What is your favorite thing to do outside of the sport?  It is returning slowly, but before the COVID outbreak, I liked having friends and family for dinners which I prepared. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team?  College Basketball. I have season tickets to St. Johns Basketball. I regularly attend games with a very dear friend and my son. Along with St. Johns I watch IU, Notre Dame, Purdue, and UM games. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know?  If I tell you that there will no longer be one thing about me that fans and bettors don't know. What is one word that describes harness racing for you?  Grateful. What was your best moment in harness racing?  Fortunately, I have had many.  Everyone of those "best moments" were made so by the friends and family that shared those moments with me.  Is harness racing your sole profession? If not, how do/did you make a living?  Breeding and racing Standardbreds is all I do and have done the past 15 years. I live off of investments and profits from the farm when it does have profits. You've owned a number of stallions during your career. Why doesn't Bluestone stand stallions?  Bluestone did stand a stallion in 1999 -- Trade Balance. When Always A Virgin came along, Bob Boni and I thought Indiana would be the place to position him. Adam and Chris Bowden approached us to put Always B Miki in Pa. Finally, Bob and I, along with Alan and Steven Katz, believed JK Endofanera would also be best in Indiana. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter I recently wrote a piece on the lack of success of high-priced yearlings and was told you have alternate information. What do your studies reveal?  I took the yearlings that sold in 2020 and sorted them from most to least expensive. There were about 3,500 that sold and I broke the yearlings down into 10% textiles by sales price and then by earnings. Taking what the top 10% earned as 2- and 3-year-olds, I divided that into the total earnings of the entire 2020 crop from those two years and found that the top 10% - 350 yearlings or so -- earned 47% to 48% of all the money they raced for. When you add the next 10% into the equation you get to 68%. This proves that horsepeople know what they are looking at and what they are buying. You can't look at the top 10 because the sample isn't big enough but you can look at the top 350.  Bluestone is based in New Jersey and those state programs seem to be prospering. Are you happy with the state of racing in New Jersey right now? We (Bluestone/Cane Run Partnership) receive little benefit from the New Jersey program. Elizabeth and I move our mares around to position their offspring to maximize sires stakes eligibility and Breeders Awards Programs. New Jersey is not a state (at least at this moment) that we target. Do you see future development in the state?   I have significant reservations about racing in New Jersey. I have little confidence, if any at all, in The Meadowlands; even less, if that is possible, in the SBOA, and none at all in the New Jersey Racing Commission.   If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be?  Hmmm? I am quite sure I'd change nothing. From the first day I entered this business to today I have heard few encouraging words about our future. My father would say this is not a business. Others would forecast the end is near. Still others said to me: you can't make any money racing, races are fixed, PED's are hurting our reputation, dependency on Casino money will destroy us, etc. Through all the negative criticisms and thirty years after my father's statement, we are still here. It seems the business is doing just fine. The last thing it needs is me changing something. How do you view the future of harness racing?  From my early days in the business, I have been conscious of the commitment many of its participants have. When people argue -- as I previously stated -- that this is not a business, in one sense they are correct.  It is a life for many. Racing horses gets under your skin. And for those who have been inoculated, it's a club that offers camaraderie, and for the lucky ones a moment to revel in success that comes from hard work and dedication.   There is a certain kind of individual that gravitates to this business. It is something that is inherent within them that causes them to dedicate themselves to this endeavor. Many came before us that had this essential characteristic. Many of today's participants in horse racing possess it. As long as the business remains populated by those who feel as we do, Standardbred Racing will be just fine.   Time for the stretch drive: Best Horse you ever saw?  Setting aside those horses I have owned, it would be Jate Lobell. Best Driver Ever? Billy O' Donnell. Best Trainer Ever? I'll take Bob Boni's word for it, Billy Haughton. Lasix -- Yes or No? Yes. Favorite TV Show? Presently Ted Lasso; All time, Sports Night with MASH a close second. Trotters or Pacers? Trotters.