Catalano making dream come true

When harness racing owner Nick Catalano was in seventh grade, his teacher was interested in finding out some interesting things about students in the class.

One of the questions he was asked was, “What was your favorite book to read?“

Catalano thought for a moment before answering, “The Meadows racing form.”

His destiny was determined at that point.

So what started out as chasing a dream with the purchase of one horse, split among family and friends, has blossomed into a successful racing stable of more than 50 horses and a future that is looking brighter every day.

“I was never really big into reading books,” he said. “But with horse racing, it just seemed to click. My father always took me when I was a kid and I fell in love with it.”

Catalano, who most know from his wrestling days at Canon-McMillan High School until graduating in 2011, and brothers Scott and Tim Betts, who most know from their days at Chartiers-Houston, have made great strides in a short period of time.

The 26-year-old Catalano handles the procurement of the horses and the Bettses take care of the training end of it.

There are others in this expansive stable who contribute to the success, including Mike Palone – yes, Dave Palone is his brother – and Tim Hall, who does most of the driving.

“With only a little bit of money, I had to take it slow in the beginning,” said Catalano. “That’s how you learn the business. I learned a lot at a young age. My partnerships played a big role. Everyone plays a part and adds something to our team. It’s definitely a team effort.”

Two years ago, the stable produced the Horse of the Year at The Meadows in Phoenix Warrior N, who won 13 of 29 starts. Owned by Tim Betts, Catalano and Stephen Moss, the 8-year-old gelding, trained by Scott Betts, finished in the top-3 in 27 of his 29 starts for the year.

The stable also produced April Ava, who was recognized by the track as the top 3-year-old filly pacer last season. Catalano owned a piece of Dracarys Z, the 2-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Pacer of the Year in 2019.

Catalano bought his first horse in college. After a successful scholastic career of wrestling for the Big Macs, he got a scholarship from North Carolina. Catalano finished second, third, and fourth at the state tournament during his high school career and his future in the sport looked promising. But multiple shoulder surgeries derailed his wrestling career.

“I was 19 and owned my first race horse,” Catalano said. “I was in college and my horse was racing. Me and my friends were watching on my computer. And he just got beat out. It was so much fun.”

Not only does Catalano and Co. seem to have a magic touch preparing horses to race, but also share a strong commitment to community.

During the shutdown of the track because of the coronavirus pandemic, Catalano’s group delivered lunch to all the workers at the track in early April.

“I did something with Jimmy Z’s pizza,” Catalano said. “It’s not really trying the good guy role. It was more of, ‘We are in this together.’ We might be competitors on the track, but right now, we need each other and we need to stay together.”

The stable has also been involved with fundraisers in and around the track and raised enough money to donate a race bike.

Like so many of the individuals who make their living from standardbred racing, they are eager to get back onto the track.

“We didn’t lay off any of our workers,” Catalano said. “The longer this drags on, the more I try to do something. … We’re hopeful, trying to stay positive that we’ll get back to racing.”

Until that time, they will continue to make plans to make the stable grow.

By Joe Tuscano

Reprinted with permission of The Observer-Reporter