The race is one of four GSY Amateur Driving Series events on the Big M’s card, but the only one filled entirely with owners behind their own horses. In fact, it will be a first-time occurrence for the GSY, according to club co-founder Dave Yarock.
“It’s never happened before, ever,” Yarock said. “I’ve been working at it for almost 10 years now. It’s like the movie Field of Dreams; if you build it, they will come. That’s what we’ve done. We’ve built it.”
Membership in the GSY Series has grown recently, up from a steady 25 participants to now approaching 40. A primary goal of the club is to increase interest in harness racing and promote horse ownership. While drivers are not required to own the horse they drive, one rule since the GSY’s inception has been that racing preference is given to an owner/driver.
“We’re not going to encourage people to buy their own horses and be members of our club and sit on the sideline,” said David Glasser, who will be driving his trotter Cimeronken in Friday’s eighth race at The Meadowlands. He also will drive a pacer he owns, Kingofthejungle, in the night’s first race.
“To me, it kind of harkens back to the early days of harness racing. My mother used to collect Currier & Ives prints, so I spent my childhood growing up looking at these pictures of gentleman drivers driving their horse in a competition on a Sunday afternoon. It’s kind of circling back to the beginning.”
Said Yarock, “It’s a win-win situation for everybody. I believe it’s created a buzz within the industry. People see something a little different, see something a little exciting, and it’s inducing people to get into the sport. That was my goal from the get-go, to induce people to get into the sport. That’s what it’s all about.”
The drivers joining Glasser in Friday’s eighth race at the Big M are: Paul Minore, Joe Pennacchio, Matt Zuccarello, Bob Hechkoff, Dawn Anderson, Mark Schullstrom, Mark Silva, Tony Ciuffetelli, and Dave Offenberg.
Combined, the 10 drivers have won 1,054 races and $4.75 million in purses.
“What other sport can you do this? Compete at the mecca?” Glasser said. “It’s amazing that we get to run this series and drive races at The Meadowlands. And, for whatever the reason, people bet on us. We’re not taking that for granted. We want to help increase the handle. We don’t want to rest on our laurels. We want to keep trying to do more.”
In addition to the four GSY Series races, the Meadowlands card includes the third round of the Kindergarten Classic Series for 2-year-olds. There is a total of nine Kindergarten divisions, with three for female trotters and two each for male trotters, male pacers, and female pacers.
The Big M and TrackMaster have teamed to regularly provide free past performances for each race card. Past performances can be found here on The Meadowlands website.
by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA