Fate brings energetic young trainer into harness racing

Trenton, NJ — If it weren’t for a partial knee tear and a turbulent experience in the hospital — each incident totally unrelated to the other — the sport of harness racing may not have been blessed with the presence of Katelyn Gerow.

But fate has brought a bright, energetic young trainer into the sport, and her enthusiasm can be catching just from talking with the lifelong Maine resident.

“A lot of people look at females and say, you do that?” Gerow noted. “And it’s cool to say that, as a female, yeah, I train horses. When you sit behind them there’s nothing like it!”

Just as there’s nothing like getting that first training win, which Gerow experienced on April 15 at Maine’s First Tracks Cumberland. Drew Campbell drove Third Power to victory in Katelyn’s third career start. It came two races after her first start, when Third Power finished seventh at Massachusetts’ Plainridge Park.

“I took him back to Maine because I thought he needed some class relief after a tough trip at Plainridge the week before,” Gerow said. “He got away sixth at Plainridge, came out first over, just got stuck chasing. So, I put him in at Cumberland. He drew the five hole and got away third. He tipped after the half, he just came out and dug in. It was an easy win for him (by a length in 1:59.2). I knew the horse could do it, but still, it was my first win and it was very special to me, especially since I own him.”

Gerow bought Third Power in mid-March from Delaware-based trainer Chuck Crissman Jr., feeling the horse would fare well on a smaller stage.

“I don’t always like to buy off big trainers like that, I’m just a stable of three right now,” she said. “I figured he needed some class relief. He was at Dover racing some top horses every week. I figured if I could get him to Maine, get a few good trips under his belt he would be all right for Plainridge. That was the whole goal.

“I took a gamble on him, and he’s been pretty consistent. He’s almost paid for himself in about a month. I got my second win with him too (with Bruce Ranger driving). He’s been third twice, had a big trip at Plainridge last Thursday and was second in (1):52.1.”

As for the other two horses she trains (but does not own), No Mo Fashion has two thirds at Cumberland and maiden Gabe Hanover has a second at Plainridge.

Overall, Gerow has hit the board in eight of 11 starts and has $12,076 in purse earnings.

She is finally doing exactly what she wants, after dabbling in several other areas while growing up in Fairfield, Maine.

Katelyn’s parents were dairy farmers, so she grew up around horses. In fact, she rode them and will still do barrel racing if time ever permits.

“I’ve always barrel raced,” Gerow said. “I grew up riding English, cross rails, stuff like that. Riding horses-wise, barrel racing is always what I loved. The speed, the adrenaline. It’s pretty awesome.”

She had another love, as well, and that came with a stick in her hand.

At Lawrence High School, Gerow was a standout field hockey player who was pondering a possible career in college. But during the Bulldogs’ Senior Night game, the feisty forward suffered a partial tear in her knee.

“I don’t think I was ever going to play Division One, and I was thinking where my next step would be and what I was going to do,” Gerow said. “I was thinking maybe Division Three, or whatever. But after I hurt my knee, I decided field hockey is out and I guess I’ll race some horses. Racing seemed like ‘OK, you make all kinds of money,’ and you just get the itch.”

That making money thing isn’t a sure bet, of course.

“Yeah, but when you’re young you just jump right in and you don’t really think about anything,” Gerow said. “I think my mom was a little disappointed I didn’t go straight to college.”

After graduation in 2017, Gerow owned and raced horses for a year-and-a-half. By then, she had already been in the business as a groom thanks to the now-married driver-trainer tandem of Ron Cushing and Heidi Gibbs.

“I never raced horses until 2014 when I got in the business,” Gerow said. “I owned some horses with them. I didn’t even know how to harness a horse. Heidi and Ron taught me everything. I had a history with horses but never racing experience. That was the first year I ever paddocked and shipped for races, stuff like that.”

In 2019, Katelyn made mom happy by enrolling at the University of Maine for nursing. Although she got her degree, it was not a great experience. First off, she spent four years away from harness racing. Secondly, when COVID-19 took over the world in 2020, Gerow was already working in a hospital doing some shadowing and DNA work. That experience was enough to send her back to the stables.

“When COVID hit I was like ‘I’m done.’ It was terrible, I don’t think I’d ever go back,” Gerow said. “It ruined it for me between all the precautions you had to take and everything else.”

Nonetheless, she got her degree and became certified, but her nursing career was over before it even started. It was back to the track for the Standardbred lover.

“I never stopped thinking about the horses,” Gerow said. “Even the ones I took care of, I still followed them along the way. I never stopped loving it. (After college) I needed to do something different, I decided that’s what I wanted to do. I never wanted to do anything else except race.”

Upon her return to the sport, Katelyn worked with Plainridge trainer Joe Nelson for a while. This winter, at age 23, she gained her training license and now has her modest stable of three and is working alongside Jim Dunn, who’s “a big help when I’m on the road.”

Gerow is stabled in Sidney, which is a three-hour trip to Plainridge but a short ride to Cumberland. She also races at Bangor Raceway and local fairs; and owns several other horses with trainer and good friend Gary Levine, who races in New York.

“This was always my dream,” Gerow said of being a trainer. “I grew up and learned how to do everything. The ultimate goal was always to train my own horses; have a barn full.

“I would love to expand my stable more. That’s the goal, fill my barn up and not have to worry about anything and be my own boss completely. I don’t think I want a giant stable. I’d love to have eight to 10 and some upper-level horses. I’d love to dip into the sire stakes and things like that.”

Katelyn is not shooting for the stars with her ambitions. She just wants a comfortable lifestyle in a profession she warmly embraces.

“I want to expand as much as I can, but be in reality at the same time,” Gerow said. “I am not going on to be a Grand Circuit trainer, but I would love to have some high-class horses and have them do as best as they can. I would love to train other people’s horses as well. But everyone knows you make the most money when you own them too. I’d love to do a little bit of both.”

Gerow has had to put barrel racing on hold for now “just because I’m stupidly busy. I’ve always had a history with horses, but harness racing takes the cake.”

She toys with driving “something fun” like an amateur race or fair, but adds that “I’ll leave it to the professionals to make me money.”

And make no mistake. Although Gerow is not dreaming of being on the Grand Circuit, she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity.

“Wouldn’t everybody want that?” she asked. “But I’m just trying to be in reality. Make a good living and do as good as I can.”

In doing so, she has added a fresh new personality to the sport, which is harness racing’s gain but field hockey and nursing’s loss.

by Rich Fisher, for the USTA