Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — It all started as a joke.

After it turned serious, John “The Greek” Sikaras is still sporting one of the biggest grins in western Pennsylvania.

As well he should.

John Sikaras recorded his first driving win Nov. 27 in an $8,500 Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association event at The Meadows. Chris Gooden photo.

Sikaras recorded his first driving win Nov. 27 in an $8,500 Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association event at The Meadows. The fact his horse, Explosive Leggs, went off at 23-1 is pretty neat in its own right. Throw in the fact that Sikaras turned 70 on June 12, and you’ve got a Pittsburgh area feel-good story that ranks right up there with the invention of the famed Primanti Brothers sandwich.

“I still can’t come up with the right words to describe what that felt like, or even what it feels like now,” said The Greek, whose nickname came from Meadows announcer Jeff Zidek. “I don’t know how to put it in words. I cannot believe that we got it done. It’s something you see only in movies. It was an absolutely incredible feeling; something that will stay in me forever and ever.”

It is also something that seemed completely unattainable just two years ago.

In 1970, after moving to northern New Jersey from Kastri, Greece, the 19-year-old became a railbird at Yonkers, Roosevelt, Freehold, Liberty Bell, Garden State Park and The Meadowlands. He had never heard of harness racing in his hometown of Kastri (just outside of Sparta), but quickly developed a crush on the sport in America.

“I went to Yonkers with friends and it became love at first sight with those magnificent animals,” Sikaras said. “On top of that, I was in awe of the guys that drove them.”

Flash forward to 2018. Sikaras had become a Standardbred owner after relocating to Washington County in Pennsylvania with his wife Bernadette 30 years earlier.

John’s friend, trainer/driver Tom Svrcek, announced on social media he was hosting a fundraiser for the Belle Vernon school district. It included a celebrity horse race at the nearby Meadows. The event would feature four horses in double-seated jog carts with a driver and local celebrity.

“I responded to the ad as a joke saying, I’m a celebrity,” Sikaras recalled. “I was thinking he would ignore my response. Until that point, the closest I had been to horses, other than three jogging trips — one with a trainer in a double cart — was when I visited or watched them race. So, I’m thinking he’s going to say I was crazy.”

Think again, Greek.

“He said, all right, you’re in,” Sikaras continued. “I said I was only joking! He said, too late, you can’t change your mind now.”

The event was scheduled for Kentucky Derby Day, giving John a month to prepare. With the help of driver Ray Romanetti — his first friend in the business — they began a crash course. The Greek would drive each morning, moved on to training miles and actually saw it through and drove in the benefit.

Suddenly, the infatuation he had with horses and drivers expanded to the art of driving itself.

“I became hooked, I became obsessed, after my first drive,” Sikaras said. “I was a little nervous before that, but during the race I’m thinking: Is this happening, is this real?

“I could not believe it was happening.”

It was so enthralling it left his vocabulary looking for re-enforcements.

“I don’t know enough words to describe what was going through my mind, but it was clear I became obsessed with being with a horse, feeling the awesome power they possess,” he said. “I knew right then and there that I wanted to be in a real race. I was 68, I was retired, and I had nothing to do but yard work and work in my garden. My goal, or fantasy, was to participate in amateur races.”

Sikaras pursued it with zeal. After obtaining his Qualifying/Fair license, it took him 26 qualifying drives to gain his Provisional license. Many of them came with his own horse, Classical Caviar, while Dirk Simpson and Dave Zito also provided John some horses.

“I became the proudest of owners of a license,” he said.

This past October, trainer Sarah Andrews chose John to get behind Fomor for his first pari-mutuel drive. Fomor was the favorite and Sikaras drove him to a second-place finish in a GLADA race at The Meadows.

Two weeks later, Fomor drew post nine and The Greek got away from the gate thinking he might pull off a big one.

“I put him on the engine prior to the quarter and before the three-quarter pole, I yelled at him, something like ‘We got this buddy!’ because he felt that good,” Sikaras said. “He got real tired towards the end; we finished fourth and placed fifth for interference, so I paid the $200 fine. It turns out he was sick.”

As the old cliché goes, the third time was a charm for the rookie. Trainer Carl Cocciolone gave John a shot with Explosive Leggs, who drew post six in a six-horse field. At 23-1 it didn’t look promising.

Until it did.

“The strategy was to ease him off the gate and make a move after the five-eighths pole,” Sikaras said. “We did that and guess what? We went three-wide, made up four lengths from the last turn to the finish line and won by a half-length. I’ve been on Cloud Nine since, I still can’t believe it happened.”

It was the culmination of a long, interesting journey for The Greek.

After being in America for 17 years, he took a position as production manager of a bagel chip manufacturer, where he met Bernadette. In 1988 they moved to Eighty Four, Pa., to be nearer to her parents.

During his tour of Northeastern tracks, John became enamored with Romanetti and his horse Moshannon Express. In 1997, at age 47, John opened his own painting business and a year later got a call for an estimate from Lori Romanetti. Sikaras went there to discuss a price and began talking to her husband. He inquired about whether the man was related to Ray Romanetti.

“It was him!” Sikaras said. “He and his wife and their horses were five minutes from us.”

The couples became close friends and Bernadette fell in love with one of Ray’s horses, Taboo Yankee, “a small, gutsy, tough mare.”

In 2009, when Taboo Yankee was 4, John bought a 25 percent share as Bernadette’s 50th birthday present. The horse enjoyed solid success on the track and also produced two foals — Tuesday Morning and Friday Night Storm — that are partly owned by the couple. Friday Night Storm was last year’s 2-year-old Filly of the Year at the Meadows.

Sadly, Taboo Yankee died two years ago while in foal to Father Patrick, and also lost the baby.

“That was pretty sad,” John said. “I stayed in racing so her babies wouldn’t go anywhere.”

After making his first purchase, Sikaras began rubbing shoulders with other owners. Every Friday night they would gather at a Meadows bar to watch live racing.

“In 2012, after some adult beverages, I bought half a share of an unraced, 2-year-old trotter who we renamed Classical Caviar,” Sikaras said.

Turns out the liquid lubrication was what best greased The Greek’s wallet when it came to buying horses.

“It was the same thing (again) in 2012,” he said. “At the same bar and again after cocktails, I bought 50 percent of a bay trotter and we named him Rebel Soul.”

Lest one think John was like a drunken patron rolling the dice recklessly at the craps table, they both turned out to be shrewd purchases.

“Both were in the money many times and both were retired late this year and are now my official farm ornaments,” he said. “Both were claimed multiples times and I couldn’t sleep until I claimed them back.”

The deeper Sikaras got involved as an owner, the more respect he gained for the men in the sulky. He always admired them in his Jersey days, but the more he saw of them, the more impressed he became.

“I was in awe of the drivers,” he said. “I thought it was the coolest thing. I’d watch these guys race and I thought they were pretty brave and fearless.”

He discovered what kind of courage it took when Svrcek called his bluff on the now-famous Derby Day joke, and there has been no looking back.

Sikaras plans to continue driving in amateur races and has a laundry list of people and horses to thank, including Svrcek, Romanetti, who provided help and guidance, Zito, Dan Rawlings, who was instrumental in getting John his first drive, Andrews, Cocciolone, and Classical Caviar.

He also gave a shout-out to the drivers, trainers, owners, grooms, and fans who helped support him, and noted that “Mark Weaver showed me a video of the (winning) race where he was rooting for me even though I was racing against one of his horses.”

Sikaras has become a guy that people love to root for, considering his age and late foray into the sport. He walks four miles a day to keep in shape and is also trying to lose some weight. Now that he has driven a few times, he has gained even more of an appreciation for his new peers.

“On my last drive, when we got back, I was more tired probably than the horse was,” The Greek said with a laugh. “The muscles that these guys use, it’s why they do it so effortlessly. You don’t know what it’s like to be in a race bike. They’re sitting there and they make it look so easy.

“It wasn’t like that for me. It felt like I was pulling the race bike.”

He is an inspiration to senior citizens everywhere, or to any person who thinks the chance to drive may have passed them by. He hopes his success will give others the courage to try it as well.

“My story is not for me,” he said. “People are out there wondering if they can do this. They can. I want to try to get more people possible to get involved in racing. We need it. If someone wants to get involved as more than just an owner, then it can be done.”

And that’s no joke.