from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — Turning 40 might send some men off to buy a fast car but in the case of Andrew Cohen, he went in pursuit of a fast horse.

He may have found that fast horse in Share The Delight, one of three elimination winners and 10 finalists in the $1.1 million Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-old pacers on Saturday, July 19, at the Meadowlands. Post time for the first race of the Pace night program will be 7:30 p.m.

Cohen, now 42, is an attorney who is the full-time CBS News chief legal analyst and legal editor for the network’s television, radio and online platforms. Home is Englewood, Colorado where downhill ski racers are more plentiful than pacers.

Cohen grew up in Montreal where he developed a taste for Standardbred racing but that was all put on the backburner while he earned his undergraduate degree in journalism in 1988 and law degree in 1991, both from Boston University, set up a law practice in Colorado, married, had a son (Sam is now nine and entering fourth grade), and divorced 4-1/2 years ago.

A couple of years ago, he threw himself back into harness racing with enthusiasm, buying horses, writing a column for harnessracing.com and recently starting a blog there called First Over. In it, he has shared the frustrations and exhilaration of owning horses, especially Share The Delight.

“Nearly three years ago, I approached Harvey Nagler (a radio executive at CBS) and told him I wanted to buy a racehorse for my 40th birthday, and asked him if he would keep an eye out at the Meadowlands or wherever else happened to be racing,” Cohen explained. “I knew that Harvey was interested in horses and had owned harness horses years earlier. He said he wouldn’t keep an eye on ‘my’ horses but would be willing to be a partner in ‘our’ horses. And so we started.

“Lorne Polger (a friend of Cohen’s for 37 years, who runs a private equity fund in San Diego) and I went to Lexington in 2006 and bought Share The Delight,” he noted. “Joseph Faber (married father of four from Chappaqua, N.Y., a successful lawyer with offices in Boston and New York, and law school classmate of Cohen’s) agreed to buy a piece and so did Harvey and my father (Edward Cohen). He was our first-ever yearling.”

The four friends became the Four Horsemen Stable of Englewood, Colo., while 80-year-old Edward Cohen campaigns with the nom de course of Algonquin Farms, named for the street in Montreal where Andrew grew up.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Share The Delight will start from the rail in Saturday’s $1.1 million Meadowlands Pace Final.

Share The Delight, who foaled on May 3, 2005 in Georgetown, Ky., passed through the Lexington Selected Sale as hip number 278 and cost the quintet $50,000.

The son of Bettor’s Delight-Angel’s Share had flourished in the New York Sire Stakes at 2, posting five wins in nine starts and earning $139,441.

But when he broke stride in two of his first three starts this year, including his elimination of the North America Cup, some concern seeped into the pre-race jitters this past Saturday.

“I don’t know what we are doing in this race,” Cohen’s father said before the Pace elimination. “We’re not that good, are we?”

“I want our colt to do well for my dad, who surely will not get another horse like this in his lifetime,” the younger Cohen said on Saturday. “The man who bought his first horse — Adios Dillard — in 1971 figures to deserve at least one grand moment before he leaves for the sweet hereafter. Let it be now. Let it be tonight. Let it happen just once, for him. I know it’s a lot to ask but what, really, do owners do best but hope for miracles and ask for the impossible?”

Share The Delight delivered — winning his $50,000 Meadowlands Pace elimination by three-quarters of a length in a lifetime best of 1:50.2. It was a milestone event not only for the partners who own the colt but also his driver, Hall of Famer John Campbell. It was Campbell’s career victory number 10,000.

“I am so happy for the horse, and for (trainer) Linda Toscano, who treats him like a mother treats a child, and for John Campbell, who got his 10,000th win on a horse he never gave up on even though he easily could have,” Cohen noted. “I am happy for my partners, the wonderful friends that they are. But I am happiest for my father, who simply couldn’t believe what he saw around 6:45 p.m. last night (July 12), Mountain Daylight Time, in front of his wife and son and grandson.

“We spoke immediately after the race with Duncan MacTavish, the great Canadian horseman, who was my dad’s trainer up in Montreal in the 1970s,” Cohen continued. “It was Dunc who put us in touch again with Mike Lachance, who in turn, put us in touch with his sons, Martin and Patrick, and it was the three of them, together, who picked out STD (Share The Delight) at Lexington nearly two years ago. You bet there are plenty of thank-yous to go around.”

Share The Delight advances to the Meadowlands Pace with a record of seven wins and one second in 14 career starts and earnings of $177,841.

“He’s never been short on ability,” Campbell said after the race. “We’ve just got some kinks that we took a little while to get ironed out, get him a little handier. He wasn’t perfect tonight, but he’s certainly going in the right direction. I just wanted to get him around the last turn. I was sure he’d kick home strong if I did. Once I got him around the turn, I asked him and he dug in and he paced home and held them off. They weren’t gaining on us.”

“He’s been driving us crazy,” acknowledged Toscano, who trains the colt. “I think we’re heading with him in the right direction right now. We knew he had speed; it’s just a question of his manners. He just gets angry. He’s got a lot of speed, and if it doesn’t go his way he throws a tantrum.”

As if worrying about Share The Delight’s behavior was not worry enough, the thought of facing the unbeaten wunderkind Somebeachsomewhere, who will be seeking his 11th straight victory in the Meadowlands Pace Final, flashed before them.

“No, we aren’t as good as Somebeachsomewhere,” Cohen conceded. “No one is. But last night (July 12) Share The Delight finally proved that he belongs in the Top 10 or Top 15 of any reasonable list of 3-year-old pacers this year. He won his elimination and beat some pretty good horses in doing so. If he paces up to his ability, the results will take care of themselves. We got to the Big Dance and today that’s good enough for me.”