Former Illinoisan now well-settled in the Buckeye State

Although Pat Melloy had his best year ever in 2023—as both a trainer and a driver—the 57-year-old Onley, IL native isn’t resting on his laurels.

Like many folks in harness racing, he started out racing at the fairs before graduating to the pari-mutuel ovals, and for the past three decades has carved out a niche for himself that suits him and his family just fine. 

Last year, the horses steered by Pat earned $450,440 from 34 wins, 41 seconds, and 50  thirds in 397 starts. With just three days left in 2024, it’s quite likely he’ll surpass those numbers, as he’s already amassed $442,835 to date, with 31 wins, 51 seconds, and 65 thirds from 495 drives. Lifetime, Pat has driven 541 winners to $2,579,727 in career earnings.  

As he is quickly closing in on his 1,000th career training victory, with 983 winners and $5.2 million earned lifetime from the horses he has trained, Pat is quick to admit that Standardbreds were in his blood from day one.

“My dad Patrick and mother Berna—that’s all they did was racehorses,” Pat said. “Mom helped just as much in the barn and she drove horses too—mostly on the Illinois circuit and at Henderson, Kentucky. Dad had originally started messing with Thoroughbreds in Kentucky and then switched to Standardbreds when he found out he could do everything himself, as he was too big of a guy to ride. He started out working in the plumbing and heating business and would do that in the winters, and then mess with the horses in the summertime. Eventually, the horses were all he did.” 

In 2023 Pat’s horses earned $680,460 from 59 winners, 47 second-place finishers, and 65 thirds from 490 starts. This year he has $504,782 earned to date from 36 wins, 59 seconds, and 61 thirds in 508 starts.  

Raised in the rural community of southern Illinois, Pat attended and graduated from Edward County High School, but much preferred the outdoor scene that working with the horses offered him. 

“There were only around 100 kids in my high school class,” he recalled. “But from day one I just preferred messing with the horses rather than going to school. The only other thing I really liked was hunting dogs, and we used to hunt racoons, birds, and quail. I just gravitated to outside activities always.” 

Pat’s father had a close friend in Tom Tetrick (father of Tim, Trace, and “T”), who was located on his own farm in Geff, Illinois, about 17 miles north of Albion, where the Melloys trained.  

“In my late 20s I had gotten away from the horses for a few years, and worked a factory job, but I really didn’t like it, and when Mom and Dad started to get out of the horses, Tom encouraged me to get back into the business,” Pat said. “We trained at the Edward County Fairgrounds, and Tom always messed with older horses, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the business too. 

“I’d race at the fairs, and at Fairmount Park and Balmoral, and then go to Northfield in the wintertime,”  Pat continued. “Before heading to Northfield, I’d buy some 3-year-olds off the fair circuit, and lots of times, I’d peddle them before coming back home and then start the cycle all over again.” 

One of the first horses that gave Pat a boost in an off-hand way was a daughter of Prize Sarnel named Proud Heart p, 5, 1:57 ($48,178).  

“Proud Heart was a terrible $3,000 claimer at Fairmount Park,” Pat explained. “I raced her ten times and then bred her to Sportsmaster, and her first foal was a filly named Sporty Sally p, 6, 1:54.1 ($93,877), who was decent, but I had always wanted an Incredible Finale foal, and the money Sporty Sally made allowed me to breed Proud Heart to him.” 

The resulting filly was christened Filly Finale, who went on to take a mark of 1:50.2 at 3, earning $294,758. 

“She was a really good filly, and won six of 12 starts for me at two,” Pat recalled. “We sold her right before the summer races, and she went on to do really well for Guy Calvert in Chicago.”  

Throughout the years, Pat wavered between racing in Illinois and Ohio, with stints in Florida and Indiana, but in the end, has settled in Eaton, Ohio, where he trains at the Preble County Fairgrounds, along with his girlfriend Lisa Gosselin and their son Logan. Pat and Lisa have a stable of 20 and regularly competed on the Miami Valley, Scioto, and Dayton circuits, as well as at the Ohio county fair track during the summer months. 

“We have no babies, only all older horses,” Pat noted. “One aspect of the business that Tom Tetrick taught me was the economics of it–to always live within your means. Dad taught me to have an excellent work ethic and to take good care of the horses, no matter what. Dad was self-taught and used to shoe all his own horses. I can shoe one here or there if I have too, but another thing he taught me was to take care of myself too. I can’t do my best work with the horses if I’m not 100 percent, and we have plenty of good blacksmiths around to do that work.” 

A recent winner for Pat is the 9-year-old gelding Champion Rock, a tough son of Pet Rock and $10,000 claimer who has $309,947 in his coffers.

Another is One Rockin Wes (Rockin Amadeus) p, 4, 1:52.1f ($125,650), another tough 5-year-old that Pat picked up in January of this year. Perhaps his best performer is Ms Parklane Powerful p, 5, 1:50f ($212,552), a daughter of McArdle that he and Lisa acquired in late 2022. Her dam was the mighty Parklane Powerful (by Sportsmaster), who was a terror on the Illinois circuit in the early 2000s, earning $798,556 with a mark of 1:49.3 for then owner-breeder Shirley LeVin.  

“Lisa and I love the horses, and we work well together,” Pat surmised. “We don’t really do much outside of working with the horses—we don’t take vacations, and are pretty comfortable right now in Eaton, which is where Logan goes to school. The only thing I might do is go fishing if I have some time.” 

Another unique aspect of Pat’s outlook on the horses business is that he doesn’t have partners. 

“Lisa and I are owner-operators,” he stressed. “We don’t have partners, other than each other, and we like it that way. I think that’s the only way to really be successful in the horse business is to own them all yourself and do everything yourself. If you’re able to get things rolling, and get settled a bit, the horse business is great.” 

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink