by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night can keep him from his appointed rounds. No, we’re not talking about the mailman, we referring to 81-year-old Dr. Howard E. (Doc) Gill.

On the cold, rainy and windy afternoon of Thursday, November 15, at Monticello Raceway, one would think that as much as Gill likes to drive his own stock that the octogenarian would beg off and hand the lines to a young fellow and watch his horse compete from the comfort of the drivers’ lounge.

But no, not Doc Gill. He’s from the old school and he was scheduled to drive his 5-year-old Sealed N Delivered mare Sealed With Love in the seventh race and he did just that.

And with tremendous success, too.

After they sat back off the leaders in the early going, Doc Gill rallied Sealed With Love in the final quarter and she responded with her first victory of the season in a credible time of 2:01.

After the race Doc Gill was asked why are you driving in this kind of weather?

“Dad gum, if the young fellas can go in the rain I can too. Just because a man has a little age don’t mean he has to be a sissy,” Gill chirped.

A well respected and mostly retired veterinarian, Howard E. Gill is the last of a breed. When most men his age are looking for an easy chair the good doctor keeps working with his horses like he was a teenager trying to make a name for himself.

Last year, Doc Gill was a co-winner of USHWA’s National Amateur Driver of the Year Award and though he’s added another 364 days to his age he’s back in the sulky again, having already reined seven winners thus far this year.

And if Doc Gill didn’t take time off to help his friends — the local vets — during the breeding season, he’d undoubtedly have had more drives and more winners.

In recent years, his pride and joy has been Miss Gibbons, a 1:53.2-record trotting mare who banked nearly $300,000, with most of the purse money earned with Doc Gill in the sulky.

During her 3-year-old season, Miss Gibbons, a daughter of Giant Hit, was the New York Sires Stakes as well as Monticello Raceway “Horse of the Year.”

An outstanding college football player as a youngster and a longtime veterinarian, Doc Gill has always found time during parts of the racing seasons to get away from his veterinary work to drive his own stock.

“I looked forward to it then and even more so now because it keeps me young — though my wife Irene would prefer that I slow down,” he says. “I keep telling her that some day I will — but that’ll be a sad day in my life when I do.”