Monticello, NY — Frank Yanoti Sr., 82, a Standardbred trainer and owner, died April 24, 2025, surrounded by his three children, after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Mr. Yanoti spent his entire adult life in and around harness racing at Monticello Raceway and was a lifelong Sullivan County-area resident.
Born Jan. 18, 1943, in Queens, N.Y., Mr. Yanoti was the only child of Rocco Yanoti and Ernesta (Enes) DeStefano, and immersed himself into the harness racing world at an early age. He had been a member of the United States Trotting Association since 1966.
Mr. Yanoti amassed 870 training victories and $3.8 million in purse earnings (since the USTA began compiling statistics in 1991) over a career that spanned seven decades.
An article in the Scrantonian noted that Mr. Yanoti was the Mighty M’s leading 1980 seasonal meet trainer “with 41 wins over the grueling summer session.”
The early-1980s article also noted that Mr. Yanoti and his owners were making the transition from racing claiming horses to buying yearlings and developing young, stakes-caliber stock.
One of his long-time owners, Frank Guadio, noted, “Frank really cared about his horses. He was stabled in the same ‘Barn D’ at Monticello since the 1960s.”
On the driving side Mr. Yanoti posted 543 wins and $1.17 million in earnings, primarily in the 1970s and 1980s.
He was respected by his peers and well-liked by all those that have participated in harness racing around New York State and the Tri-State area. Despite health complications, Mr. Yanoti still went to the barn every day and had four training wins this season and 66 victories over the last five years.
Mr. Yanoti served on the board of directors of the Monticello Harness Horsemen’s Association for nearly 13 years, and was a founding member of the association’s Horsemen’s Relief Fund as well as its current retirement plan.
Before the horse business, Mr. Yanoti studied journalism at St. John’s University and served in the U.S. Army.
“Frank was a budding journalist in his early years,” noted longtime MHHA executive secretary Dale Berenson. “His father Rocky Yanoti (a former MHHA executive himself) tried valiantly to persuade Frank to pursue a career in journalism. But, as history shows, his fierce love of harness horse racing and its element won out over any other profession.”
Mr. Yanoti married Paula Carpenter in 1969, and is survived by three children, Frank Jr. (Vanessa), Lisa Ann and Tara Marie (Eric) Altman; and five grandchildren, Mia, Ella, Julia, Bruce and Grace.
His family will hold a celebration of his life on Monday (April 28) at Harris Funeral Home in Liberty from 5–8 p.m. Burial Mass will be at St. Peter’s in Liberty on Tuesday (April 29) at 10 a.m.