Trainer Scott Betts is a third-generation horseman born in Washington, Pennsylvania who still lives and races in his home community at The Meadows. Currently with a 45-horse barn, Betts started training in 2014 and has seen his number of starts grow incremenatlly over the the last eight years. Now closing in on 500 career wins and with a barn that has been slowly expanding to include some younger horses, Betts is seeing great success. He finished 2021 with $860K in stable earnings and is on pace for over $1 million this year while posting a spectacular .460 UTRS.  The 29-year-old trainer took some time out from his schedule to discuss his Harness Racing journey. Enjoy!    How did you get started in harness racing? My grandfather drove and trained most of his life so we always had horses around. My dad was a vet at The Meadows and he passed away around 2010. My grandfather talked me into buying a horse and we claimed the cheapest mare pacer we could. We just went from there. We had one, which turned into five and then 50.  As a third-generation participant, was there ever a chance you wouldn't be involved in the sport? I went to college for four years and I was expecting to apply to veterinary school. I needed one more class to get my prerequisite for vet school. I was going to take a year off to get some experience and then take that class, but I ended up jumping in head first. Your brother Tim owns many of the horses you train. What is that relationship like? It's good. We're brothers so we have different opinions on some things. Everything goes pretty smoothly. He's heavily involved buying and selling. We have some good luck and bad luck but it is a good relationship. In addition to training I've read that you also dabble in the blacksmith trade. How important is shoeing with racehorses? It is at the top, maybe not as high as food and water, but it is very important. As the old saying goes, "no hoof, no horse." Horses with sore feet don't want to go and they get sore other places. Poorly shod horses, especially trotters, will interfere.  What kind of car do you drive? Ford F350. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Big steak; salsa. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? Right now I'm racing in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I haven't been to Yonkers yet. I have pretty good luck at The Meadows, but it is special racing on a Saturday night at The Meadowlands. Racing at multiple tracks from Ohio to New Jersey, is it difficult spreading a wide net? It is. You have to rely heavily on your employees because you can't be everywhere at once. I spend most of my time at The Meadows and I drive out to Wind Gap about every other week. You have to have good people in the right sports to make sure everything gets done and horses are taken care of and happy. You used to send your horses to other trainers at The Meadowlands but lately you've been listed. Why the change? Before we didn't have stalls out there so we would just send them to Juan [Cano] or Travis Alexander but I hired a couple of second trainers and that enabled me to split my time. I think it is working out for the better. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? I like the Hambletonian but I'm kind of a home-towner, so I like the Adios because I get to see good horses come to town. It is a fun day for everyone at The Meadows.  ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter How often are horses or racing on your mind? I don't there is really a time when I'm not thinking about it or what I have to do tomorrow.  What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? I don't really get that much time outside of it. I do like to go on western back-pack hunts or last year I went to Canada on a moose hunt in British Columbia.  What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? I can watch any sport, but probably football or baseball. I like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates but I'm not a big fan. I can watch any team. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Exciting. How many horses do you currently have in training? 45. Where is your home base for training? I'm stabled at The Meadows and we have stalls at Windgate Farm in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania.  You are on pace to eclipse 500 lifetime wins in 2022 and have your best year yet.  Is your career trajectory rising as expect? Honestly, I feel like I didn't have a trajectory. At the beginning we didn't have that many good horses on our own and then a couple of guys starting owning horses with us and it took off. Last year and this year we really starting buying babies, jumper horses and better horses. So there really wasn't a trajectory as much as it just happened on its own. I'm happy about it and it is going well.  Are you happy with your current status or do you have designs on becoming more of a Grand Circuit trainer? I'm pretty happy. It would be great to buy a couple of yearlings out of the sale and for them to turn into Grand Circuit horses. Typically we have a couple of homebreds and we buy one or two. We had some luck last year with a homebred by Googoo Gaagaa [Redwhite N Goo] that made about $85,000 last year. He actually won my first Grand Circuit event, the Keystone Classic at The Meadows. We've only raced in a few stakes. If my career was to go that way I'd be happy, but I enjoy racing overnights. I just like to race.  Which is the best horse you've ever trained? I had an open pacer a few years ago [2018] named Phoenix Warrior N. He won like half his starts [29-13-5-9] and was my first good horse. He was a little quirky but he did some amazing things on the track. He could win from spots that no horse should win from. He was a really good horse. Which horses are you most looking forward to racing in 2022? I have two. We have a 3-year-old Bar Hopping filly named Miss Principle. She raced in the [PA] stallion series and a couple of Grand Circuit events last year. She finished second a few times versus Dreamonhigh, the sire stakes winner, so I'm really excited about her. Redwhite N Goo is a 4-year-old now. He got good late in the year and has ridiculous high speed for a trotter. We were a little ambitious with him and put him in the Graduate and some 4-year-old Kentucky stakes. What is the best advice you've ever gotten or given about harness racing? I learned a lot of things from trial by fire but my grandfather always said you have to have a short memory. If you sell one that goes on and makes a million you have to have a short memory. What was your best moment in harness racing? When Redwhite N Goo won the Keystone Classic just because it had some sentimental value. He was a handful for a while. I think it took six qualifiers to get him qualified. I actually got mad at him and took him back to the barn, removed all of his boots and equipment and put him in a race bike. Then he trained in 2:00 with no equipment. That was like the light switch going on. He's a homebred and was a bit of a basket case.  Your stable has a strong presence across a number of social media platforms. Why is that important in 2022? My brother Andrew manages that for me. I only do a little of it. To me it is very important because everyone is on social media now, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. I don't have TikTok but Chris Gooden [The Meadows photographer] has been putting videos on there. Anything that gets harness racing out there, whether by retweeting or posting, it helps to spread the sport quickly.  ► Celebrate the 10th anniversary of DRF Harness with FREE Harness Eye PPs If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? There is always a better way to do something. It would be nice if we could come up with a way to get more people involved in order to better the future of the game.  How do you view the future of harness racing? On Saturday night [March 5] at The Meadowlands they wagered $3.7 million or something. That is arguably the number one track with Woodbine. I think it is pretty strong for a while. I don't know the numbers but it seems handle has been going up, horse prices are the highest I've seen them and purses are up. It seems pretty strong right now. If you weren't involved in harness racing, what would you be doing? I think about that a lot and I'm not sure. I wanted to go to vet school so maybe I'd be a veterinarian somewhere.  Time for the stretch drive... Best Horse you ever saw: I've seen Sweet Lou and Jujubee, he raced at The Meadows a lot. I'd say one of those two.  Best Driver: I should say my grandfather so nobody gets mad at me. Dave Palone has the most wins, Tim Tetrick is very good, Dexter Dunn is good. I don't have a best one. Lasix -- Yes or No?: Yes. Favorite TV Show?: Longmire. Trotters or Pacers?: I like both but I do like trotters.