A number of good things for Kakaley

A number of good things — with an emphasis on numbers — happened for harness racing driver Matt Kakaley in 2023.

Kakaley won a career-high 561 races last year, surpassed 6,000 lifetime victories, and captured his second consecutive driving title at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs.

He also topped $9 million in purses for a second consecutive season (missing his career high by less than $250,000) and reached $100 million in lifetime purses, with the 35-year-old becoming at the time the third-youngest driver to hit the century mark.

Furthermore, Kakaley won nine of 10 races at MGM Yonkers Raceway on June 24, equaling the track record for victories on a single card.

Overall in 2023, Kakaley’s win total ranked fourth among all drivers in North America, and his purses were eighth.

“It was a good year, for sure,” said Kakaley, who in addition to topping the standings at Pocono finished third at Yonkers. “It was a lot of work, doubleheaders between Pocono and Yonkers. A lot of miles on the road, but I’m happy with the way things went.

“I’m fortunate to be in this spot. These are two of the top tracks in the country, so for me to be the leading driver at one of them and top three at the other, that’s something I’m really proud of. Hopefully, I can continue it this year and see what happens. If I could have similar numbers, that’s what I’m shooting for.”

Kakaley begins his defense of the Pocono crown on Saturday when the track opens for its 59th season. Kakaley, who resides 20 minutes from the track, won 280 races at the Northeast Pennsylvania five-eighths-mile oval last year.

“I’m excited to get going there,” Kakaley said. “Pocono has been home for a long time, and when they open it’s a good sign of things to come. It means spring isn’t too far away.”

Kakaley was Pocono’s leading driver in 2011, then saw George Napolitano Jr. take the title the next 10 years. After finishing second to Napolitano in 2021, Kakaley put more of an emphasis on regaining the No. 1 spot.

“It was something I put on my goal list two years ago,” Kakaley said. “It was something I was striving for.”

Now, he will try to join Napolitano as the only drivers to capture at least three consecutive titles at Pocono since 1993.

“You want to stay at the top of the mountain once you get there,” he said. “Absolutely.”

Among last year’s other highlights, Kakaley joined Luc Ouellette, Walter Case Jr., and Stephane Bouchard in the record book at Yonkers with his nine single-card victories. Kakaley won the night’s first four races, finished second in the next, then closed out with five consecutive victories.

“That was a lot of fun,” Kakaley said. “That definitely doesn’t happen all the time. I had a lot of morning-line favorites, horses that were just in good spots. I thought I could have a really big night if things went my way. A lot of times when it looks like that, you have a good night, don’t get me wrong, but nothing like that. A couple don’t race like you thought they should have, or the trip doesn’t work out, or they just get beat.

“Everything that night fell into place. I was in the right spots; the horses were in the right spots. Going through it, I was thinking, man, this is something cool. I was proud of that night.”

As for getting to $100 million in career purses, Kakaley at the time trailed only Tim Tetrick and Yannick Gingras on the list of youngest drivers to reach the milestone. Scott Zeron, 34, moved ahead of Kakaley later in the season and ended 2023 by being named Driver of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

“Timmy and Yannick are two Hall of Famers, two of the best to ever sit behind a horse, and Scott is a great driver too,” Kakaley said. “To do something that’s kind of comparative to them is special. I’m pretty lucky. It just shows how fortunate I’ve been.”

Kakaley was one of the most active drivers of 2023, starting 3,029 races. It was only the second time in his 18-year career that Kakaley surpassed 3,000 starts. Despite the demands of the workload, he thrived, posting a .329 driver rating that was the third best of his career.

“It definitely keeps you sharper, but it will wear on you a little bit,” Kakaley said about his schedule. “I’ll have doubleheaders (at Pocono and Yonkers) on Mondays and Tuesdays. During the summer, I was taking Wednesdays or Thursdays off. If you go seven days a week, you get worn out.

“Everybody talks about Aaron Merriman and how crazy his schedule is (with more than 4,000 starts nine of the past 10 years), and to be honest, it is crazy. I don’t know how he’s done it. I had 3,000 last year, and I know at one time I was getting pretty worn out. I wasn’t losing my edge on the track, but I’d wake up in the morning and I’d be pretty beat up. For him to do it so long is incredible. I know I work hard, and he puts me to shame.”

Kakaley plans to continue with his dedicated approach and will look to reap the rewards.

“It’s amazing how devoted we all are to this sport and industry, from (the drivers), to trainers, to grooms, to owners,” Kakaley said. “In any business, you have to be devoted to what you do or you’re not going to succeed. It’s as simple as that.”

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA