The amateurs rock!

For those of you that castigate amateur harness racing and continually complain about it, you’re all wrong.

Form Cornelius Kingsley Garrison Billings of yesteryear to the gentlemen and ladies that participate this very day, amateur racing has done wonders for our sport…and countless charitable organizations here in the U.S.A., as well.

First off, many of today’s top drivers got their start in amateur races.

Second, many organizations in the business of saving horses from kill pens rely on the generosity of amateur clubs and their members to partially fund their efforts—and they have saved, literally, thousands of horses over the years.

You see, the only reason that these drivers are classified as “amateurs” is that they donate all of their driver’s earnings to their respective clubs for distribution to worthy 501-C3 charitable organizations.

There is no membership discrimination in any club as they welcome the generosity of men and women of all ages—some as young as their teens and some well beyond retirement age.

Amateur clubs are amazing contributors to racing and their surrounding communities, stretching out to the national scene, as well.

Not only do they help fill races with the obvious horse shortage these days, but the amateurs also bring out family members and friends to the track with visitors enjoying the races close up…and many experience the thrill of riding in the starting gate, which is a “real rush,” according to many of the live on-track visitors.

On May 18 at The Meadowlands, with all the big-wigs up in Canada, there were 13 races with seven amateur events helping to fill the card.

Yes, handle was a bit sub-par for The Big M—around $2.35 million—but the amateur events accounted for almost half of it, including the highest race handle of the night—$251,774 in the grand finale which went off at 27 minutes to midnight.

Recently at Oak Grove Racing and Gaming, the two amateur events on their racing program generated the highest two handles on that Sunday program.

At Yonkers recently, the two amateur race handles were right in the mix with that program’s average wagering per race.

The amateur races are full of movement, too, as these amateur horsemen and women are all seeking a million dollars’ worth of bragging rights every time they step out onto the racetrack.

Yes, the greatness of the Amateur Driving Clubs stretches far and wide and, in just the past couple of seasons, the list of beneficiaries from the generosities of amateur club members include Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center, Equine Assisted Therapies, Make-A-Wish Foundation, New Vocations, Bit-By=Bit, the Harness Racing Museum, Christian Harness Horsemen’s Association, Rockin T Equine Sanctuary, Tomorrow’s Rainbow, Sanctuary, Inc,, Christian County Humane Society, Christian County Animal Shelter, Steele Magnolia Sanctuary, Volunteer Equine Advocates and the Redemption Ranch.

If you are out of breath reading that last sentence, these amateur clubs are “breathless” in making our sport valuable in so many ways.

Why, they have even donated to soup kitchens!

A shining example of amateur clubs has a history going back many, many moons as the new United States Harness Drivers Club (formerly known as the Florida Amateur Drivers Club) has donated over $300,000 to these worthy causes since their inception in 1998, including a handful of donations during the on-going Oak Grove meeting in Kentucky.

USHDC Treasurer Tom Eiches said it best by saying, “When an industry like ours can break out of their own bubble and spread some wings of joy with a community ‘reach-out’ benefitting the needy, it is well worth it and the many drivers in the many amateur clubs in the U.S. have done just that.”

When Eiches refers to the many clubs, he’s referring to amateurs in a wide range of occupations and “walks-of-life” only competing in events labeled for amateur drivers.

From financial advisors and New York Yankee staff members…from judges to automotive suppliers…from real estate developers to internet technology companies…the thrill of getting behind a trotter or pacer with the possibility of reaching the winner’s circle is beyond words.

For example, amateur driver Larry Ferrari, the owner of an internet technology company in the Cleveland, Ohio area, has 374 lifetime wins in the United States with a crowning touch coming just last year when he was crowned “King” after winning the Centennial Amateur Driving Championship in Italy, competing in Rome, Torino and Florence.

Ferrari lamented, “the brotherhood among amateur drivers is unbelievable and being, from Ohio, this whole dream wouldn’t have been possible without Dein Spriggs and Steve Oldford, prominent amateur drivers in their own right, when they invited me to Florida for competition that made this possible in the first place!”

Anthony Beltrami, known as “Tony” when he steps foot on the racetrack, is a longtime Judge presiding over criminal and civil trials and has 84 lifetime wins since his first appearance in the sulky back in 2014. Of his 84 wins, 73 of them have come in the past three seasons with his best year being last year when he won 36 races in just 171 starts.

Ironically, his last win, as of this writing, was June 18 in the great city of Philadelphia with the aptly named “All Rise!”

He’s also won races this year at The Meadowlands, Pocono Downs and Freehold Raceway.

The “eye-opening” fact about Tony Beltrami is the fact that, in 2022, his driving ability earned owners $303,674 in purse money…and his 5% driving fees for that year were $15,183 earmarked for charitable purposes…and that’s just one single amateur driver!

This year, the Judge has banked $138,051…another $6,900 and change for those worthy causes.

Judge Tony is just one of many that have unselfishly donated all of their driving fees to save equine lives that, in turn, help the lives of humans facing and overcoming tragic circumstances.

Joseph Lee is yet another amateur driving hero. A financial advisor by trade, Lee has been in the Yankee clubhouse for over two decades tending to players needs and keeping them in tip-top shape for every game.

He’s two wins away from 100 and the last three years have been his best with well over $100,000 in purse earnings each season.

This season, so far, he’s “hit” 13 home runs and is batting .342!

Traveling around the harness racing communities, add to that guys and gals like Dein Spriggs, Steve Oldford, Anthony Verruso, Joseph Lee, Matt Zuccarello, Tony Dinges, Yogi Sheridan, Nicole Dicostanzo, Jim King Solomon, Mark Silva, England’s Lee Morris, Stacey McLenaghan, Rob Harmon, Jeff Schaefer, Joe Burke, Billy Abdelnour,, David Yarock, Joe Faraldo, Alan Schwartz and Jill Brown, just to name a couple of handfuls, and you have a very meaningful charitable network that can perform miracles!

Add to that the new, young amateurs carrying the harness racing torch to the future include Adarryl Gates, Carson Conrad, Jafari Frazier and Zachery Highers, among others, and you REALLY have something…a charitable network that can save countless standardbred horses—equine heroes during their racing careers and after their careers in helping humanity—and they do so for many years to come.

by John Berry, for Harnesslink