Harness: Stark providing a second life for retired Standardbreds

In the hours between work and the rest of everyday life, Randi Stark returns to the animals that once defined her days as a caretaker. Only now, instead of getting horses ready to race, she is teaching them how to leave the racetrack behind.

It is a transition she understands in her own way. Like the horses she retrains, Stark has moved into a different career without forgetting where she came from and she is using everything racing taught her to help them find their own next chapter.

Practically born in a stable, her father is John Stark, a Hall of Fame and well-decorated harness racing trainer as well as driver. In addition to several USHWA Trainer of the Year Awards in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Stark is most well-known for training and driving USHWA Horse of the Year and double millionaire Bunny Lake. Randi’s late mother Danielle rode and showed hunter jumpers.

For as long as she can remember, Randi Stark could be found in a saddle or on top of a horse. Her riding and showing career started in both English and Western, but she later directed her focus only to English riding, in which she had a very successful career in the hunter jumpers.

“I’ve traveled around the country to show and have qualified for some of the top finals,” Stark said. “When my mom passed last September, I didn’t want to show anymore because that was my and her thing we did together. I still wanted to ride and be involved in horses, so I purchased two-barrel horses and have competed in rodeos this summer and had a pretty successful first season.”

Stark’s personal achievements extend far beyond the show world, whether English or Western, as she was awarded the Caretaker of the Year Award at the Saratoga Harness Track in 2023. Her racing résumé is just as lengthy as her showing and riding resumes. At the age of 14, she was able to start paddocking and traveling for Sire Stakes with her dad. She worked for many years as a caretaker for the Beckwith Stable until stepping away at the conclusion of the 2024 season at Saratoga.

Now, she works a full-time job at the Adirondack Trust Company in the mortgage and loans department. Her hours extend from 8 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, but her days start and end long before and long after the hours she clocks in and out. She still finds herself in the stable for the rest of her time. She helps in the barn on the weekends, takes catch-paddocks, and owns a couple harness horses, too.

On a day-to-day basis, before work, she rushes around turning horses out and getting everything set up for the afternoon. When she gets off work, she rushes around again to help feed the farm, then either rides multiple horses or loads the trailer to go somewhere.

“My coworkers probably hear me say I’m tired 100 times a day,” said Stark. “I’m lucky to have a great office job right in downtown Saratoga. My coworkers are great and supportive and have interests in the horses. They have even come out to watch me multiple times. They love when the horses I own win because I bring donuts to the office for everyone and that sparks weekly conversations of how the horses are racing and what days. All my vacation days I get are used for horse related events, of course. It’s definitely a balance of working all day then getting home and getting done what you need to do with the horses before it gets dark, but I make it work.”

And somehow, between all of that, she manages to break and train racehorses for careers after racing, too.

“I didn’t really decide to retrain racehorses to ride. When a horse was ready to retire and find a new home, it was always ‘call Randi so she can get on this horse and we can get a good video,’” Stark explained. “Our horses come off the track so levelheaded and laid back. They are easier than any other breed I have dealt with.

“I start by saddling a horse in the stall. I will hang on the side of the saddle, so they get used to the pressure and weight of holding someone, then I honestly just jump on. I do some circles in each direction of the stall, so they get used to the difference of steering being on their back than being behind them. Some do get a little nervous with the leg pressure as they aren’t used to it, but no horse has ever given me a problem. Then I open the gate and go. I just go right for it. I’m not really one to take my time. If a horse was going to do something, they would do it right when I got on.”

Stark has had experience retraining both standardbreds and thoroughbreds and with that experience, she can certainly pinpoint a difference in the retraining process of both breeds.

“This is very easy for me to answer as my last year of showing I took a free thoroughbred off the track. I think I cried every day trying to retrain this horse,” said Stark. “Thoroughbreds are hot and just the complete opposite of Standardbreds. All around just different attitudes. I can’t complain too much because that thoroughbred did go on with me to make the National Take2 Finals, which we were required to be Top 40 in the country, and we went on to compete in Kentucky. The difference is you’re taking a horse that’s focus is on just galloping rather than a Standardbred’s focus on just trotting or pacing. You’re taking both out of their element and completely reteaching what they only know. I will stick to helping retrain Standardbreds, though.”

While the level of difficulty of retraining can vary from horse to horse and breed to breed, Stark believes that any of them can be broke and ridden, especially Standardbreds.

“Every trotter over the age of 3 in my dad’s barn is broke to ride. Any new ones that come in are broke right away,” said Stark. “Last month I recently claimed a horse named Sylvester. The next day I had a saddle on him and was riding him all around the farm. They truly enjoy it. He dropped his head, had his ears forward and just happily walked along. I think there’s multiple things that make them such good riding horses. They are so levelheaded, they don’t get phased by anything. They have been there done that. They are safe. I would put a child on a retrained racehorse any day over my barrel horse. Once you get them to figure out their canter you won’t find better.”

Amid all of Stark’s responsibilities, jobs, hobbies, and shows, she still found time to retrain a Standardbred as a Racing Under Saddle (RUS) horse. With the summer winding down and the change in racing seasons at Saratoga, the harness track showcased the fourth annual Charity Match Race at the end of August. In previous years, the race has featured a thoroughbred jockey racing against a harness driver in a regular harness race in the bike in addition to a thoroughbred jockey riding against a harness horseman in a RUS-style trot race. This year, only the latter option was showcased at the event, with Stark riding in her first RUS against jockey Katie Davis.

After a few qualifying sessions in front of the judges and a written test, Stark earned her RUS license. As she had mentioned, all of her dad’s horses have been broke to ride, but it was necessary for there to be two trotters of equal talents to compete against each other. One of Stark’s former horses, Tobern, fit the bill. He was already broke to ride and was well-tempered with good speed. Now, the challenge was to find a second horse.

John and Michelle Hallett offered up their trotter Oh Brother to be tried. He had never been ridden, but he was well-mannered and had great speed with his better performances. And so, Stark showed up and jumped on and away they went.

“We started in the stall with the process I talked about before. We went right out to the jog track and went a couple laps. While you are out there, you know right away what you have under you and if the horse is going to act up. He showed no signs of that,” Stark said. “I had confidence with him the first time we went behind the gate. He was hot the first time as he didn’t exactly know what was going on. I will get on any horse, I really don’t have fear when it comes to that. I’ve ridden over hundreds of horses so it’s just like an everyday thing to me. I will say when we made a couple small tweaks to his equipment, he was an absolute professional. Sometimes we have to make those changes as it’s very different being behind them rather than on their back leaning over their neck. It’s a different control.

“Tobern was able to train and race under saddle in the same equipment he races in,” Stark continued. “He is a horse I had more experience with as my dad purchased him as a yearling and trained him for years before he was sold. He was previously broke a year before by me. My sister showed him in the Saratoga County Fair in the off-the-track classes and was reserve champion.”

After only three sessions of less than a half-hour apiece, Katie Davis took Oh Brother behind the gate to compete against Tobern in the match race on Saturday, Aug. 29. Oh Brother took right to the front and never looked back. Stark and Tobern sprinted in the stretch, but Oh Brother prevailed.

Without Stark’s fearlessness and dedication, no one would have known of Oh Brother’s ability under saddle. And thanks to Stark, another successful charity match race was competed with all funds raised going to worthy causes and charities, as this year’s funds went to the horsemen affected by the Saratoga barn fire and to a charity named Faith’s House.

Everyone only has 24 hours in a day, but Stark has managed to stretch hers to fit a full-time job, farm chores, catch paddocks, barn duties, riding, training, showing, shipping, charity racing, and most importantly, retraining racehorses to a new career.