by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Unlike most guys entering their mid-60s, Bob “Rapid Rail” Krivelin seems to be speeding up rather than slowing down.

The 64-year-old owner/trainer/amateur driver recently enjoyed one of the busiest seasons of his 20-year career, a campaign that included driving Current Crisis to victory in the $25,000 Delvin Miller Gold Cup at Harrah’s Philadelphia. It was the third such lifetime triumph for Krivelin in the season-ending Billings Amateur Driving Series event.

Krivelin has had 104 drives this year, the third most of his career and the most since 2000. His 17 wins are the second most in his career, only trailing 22 victories in 2001, and his earnings of $107,541 are his fourth best overall and tops since 2003.

For good measure, his 130 starts and 22 wins as a trainer are both career highs and his $242,823 in purses are his second best total.

Billings Series photo

Bob Krivelin is closing in on 200 wins in his amateur driving career.

The Bronx native, who got hooked on harness racing by sneaking into Yonkers Raceway as a kid, shows no signs of slowing down. He hopes to soon get the 16 driving wins he needs for 200 and the one training win he needs for 100.

“I hope to keep doing it,” said Krivelin, whose “Rapid Rail” nickname derives from the horse he drove to a Hambletonian Oaks elimination win in 2003. “I stay in shape, run a few miles every day, lift weights, try to eat right, so I’m in good condition. Hopefully, God willing, I’ll keep doing it.”

He hopes to keep doing it in all three facets — owning, training and driving — as he continues to hone his craft in the sulky.

“The driving competition has been very, very tough,” Krivelin said. “My driving, I think, has improved. I try to improve a little bit every year; I think I still have a long way to go.

“Every time I drive against the pros, which I try to do as often as possible, I see that I still have a long way to go. Hopefully, maybe by the time I’m 90, I’ll actually be good.”

When asked why he stepped up his racing activities this year, Krivelin joked that “I sort of made a decision early on whether I was going to become a golf pro or focus all my attention on harness racing, so I decided since I shoot in the 90s playing golf, that’s not a viable possibility at 64 years old.”

In reality, Krivelin feels he is blessed to be able to focus so much time on harness racing due to his successful business as a wholesale food purveyor. He and his partner supply more than 500 restaurants in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey, with several 5-star establishments included.

The Goshen, N.Y., resident has 75 employees who he terms “very good people.” He delegates much of the responsibility to his managers.

“I had some free time,” he said. “I took a look in the mirror, and I said ‘Listen, this is what you do best, at least on an amateur level,’ so harness racing is what I tried to focus on.”

It’s kind of like Leonardo da Vinci focusing on painting, Tom Brady on football or Dean Martin on martinis.

“It’s a love,” Krivelin said. “I love just sitting behind a horse. I don’t necessarily have to race. Racing is just like when you climb a mountain; it’s sort of the end of the trip. The actual climbing aspect — when you’re training the horses, breaking babies and sitting behind them and watching the horses, through trial and error get to where you want them to be — is a big part of it for me.

“I train a lot of the young horses, that’s kind of my love. The racing is a result of all the hard work.”

In reflecting on his career, Krivelin feels that nothing can top his win in the Hambletonian Oaks elimination. But, after coming off his third lifetime Amateur Driver of the Year Award in 2014, he will look back on this season with special satisfaction for several reasons.

Geri Schwarz photo

Bob Krivelin drove Current Crisis in this Billings Series win on Oct. 22 at Monticello.

Winning the Billings championship on Nov. 22 was obviously one of the highlights. After Krivelin and Current Crisis finished second to Jacks To Open (driven by 2015 leading amateur driver Hannah Miller) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono 11 days earlier, ‘Rapid Rail’ fit his horse with aluminum shoes all around at the advice of legendary driver Cat Manzi.

Manzi, who drove on occasion for Krivelin, recommended aluminums at Philly. It worked for Current Crisis in 2013 when he went from last to first in the final, and it worked again in this year’s race.

Jacks To Open was a 1-5 favorite and Current Crisis went off at second best odds at 4-1. As the field approached the second turn, Jacks To Open was in second but got jammed up behind the leader and went off stride. Current Crisis kept plugging away and beat Whatnblazes by 1-3/4 lengths in the 1-1/4 mile race.

“I know my horse can go the distance, I kind of aim him toward that,” Krivelin said. “Some of the horses are maybe a little bit faster or a little faster off the gate. But the mile and a quarter presents a different kind of situation, that’s what you have to bare in mind.

“I remember (late Hall of Fame driver) Jim Doherty telling me about racing longer distances. It’s even not a bad idea to be on the front end in those races, which I was one or two times. But this horse doesn’t really have that kind of speed. I knew I had to leave a little bit to get position, which I did. So I was pretty happy about that. Once I saw Hannah made that break, it sort of opened things up for me.”

After he won the Billings for the third time, Krivelin assured it never gets old.

“It’s the most prestigious race that we have for amateur racing, that’s our Hambletonian,” he said. “I’m pretty proud of winning it three times. It’s what I aim for.”

But it’s not the only reason he enjoyed 2015. He also pointed to his 3-year-old gelding trotter, Explosive Man, who has won four of seven races this season.

“When you have a horse that talented, it really is exciting,” he said.

Krivelin’s Hero Stables owns 14 horses, including broodmares. He trains eight at the moment while Mark Ford, Dave Duspiva, and Nick DeVita also train for him. Krivelin tries to drive each horse to learn more about them and also puts other drivers in the sulky to get their opinions.

The Rapid One will take the next few weeks off from driving, and plans on going to his home in Florida during the winter, where he will drive some races.

“They have a great amateur club down there,” he said. “So that will be an opportunity to get some wins, hopefully.”

After two decades, the obvious questions to Krivelin is if he considered, or will ever consider, turning pro. His answer is a refreshing revelation, indicating that he puts love of the sport well above greed.

“You can never say never,” he said. “But as long as I don’t need the money — I think I use the money for good causes and the Billings takes the money and donates it to the (Harness Racing) Museum, which is a great cause.

“I love the amateur racing and love the guys there. We have camaraderie; it’s like a family. I don’t want to lose that. Some of my best friends are amateur drivers. Alan Schwartz, Joe Faraldo, Dein Spriggs, Joe Pennachio, Bud Hatfield. These are very good friends of mine that I’ve developed over the years.”

He feels those are the kind of guys who help design the fabric of the sport.

“Harness racing is a great thing and people should get involved in it,” Krivelin said. “We don’t want to lose it. The amateur people spend a lot of money and do a great job to try and keep it breathing.”

And guys like Bob Krivelin are a big breath of fresh air.