by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Kevin Cummings enjoyed a career year in 2014 and shows no signs of slowing down this season as he approaches a milestone win total.

Batavia Downs photo

Kevin Cummings needs only seven victories to reach 3,000 for his career.

The 44-year-old Cummings set lifetime bests with 334 wins and $1.55 million in purses last year and won the driving titles at both Batavia Downs and Buffalo Raceway. He has won multiple driving championships at each track, but 2014 marked the first time he captured both titles in the same year.

So far this year, Cummings has 23 wins in 75 starts and leads the Buffalo Raceway standings by two victories over Billy Dobson. Cummings needs only seven victories to reach 3,000 for his career.

A lifelong resident of Hamburg, N.Y., Cummings races exclusively at his hometown Buffalo Raceway and nearby Batavia Downs. He followed his father, trainer John Cummings Sr., into harness racing, as did his brothers John Jr., Anthony and Todd.

Cummings recently took time to talk with Harness Racing Communications’ Ken Weingartner about his career, future and culinary talents.

KW: Congratulations on all your success last year.
KC: Thank you.

KW: What was the key to having such a big year?
KC: I think driving live horses. I got off to a good start, and when you start out hot, people start putting you down (to drive). And it just stayed that way. I’ve never had a year like that. Three-hundred and 34 wins was a lot for as many drives as I had. I had a great year.

KW: You race exclusively at Batavia and Buffalo. Have you considered going anywhere else?
KC: I haven’t. I own a bunch of horses and I help train them. I have a family here (wife Rhonda and daughters Kristy, Kara, Kandice and Kali) and it’s hectic enough even with just these two places. I just don’t want to take that time away from family. For me, it just doesn’t seem like it’s worth it. If you go somewhere else, you have to break in. It would be harder for me to do that, I think. I don’t want to take that time away to try to establish something that I can’t really stay with anyway.

KW: You’re seven wins from 3,000. What does that milestone mean to you?
KC: It’s nice. I come from a family of drivers. My three brothers drove; two of them are still driving and the other one (Anthony) is just training. Me being the youngest and having the most wins, I kind of like that. It kind of gives me bragging rights at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

KW: Do you make sure to bring it up?
KC: Oh, yeah, absolutely. They don’t want to hear it, but I’m going to bring it up anyway. (Laughs.) When I was younger, they always brought stuff up to me, but now they don’t want to hear it.

KW: Is driving something you always wanted to do?
KC: Yeah. My dad got us all into it. It’s definitely what I wanted to do. I was probably 8 or 9 when I jogged a horse. I remember the first time I trained a horse to the bike I was 10. I went a mile in 2:09. I trained with my brother Todd, he’s a year older than I am, so it was pretty fun.

KW: Do you remember your first win?
KC: Yeah, it was with Orlando Otto in 1989. I had two (horses) in. My brother Anthony trained and drove those horses, but he put me on them. He was out of town. The one had the eight-hole and was like 80-1 and I finished second with him. He paid $77.20 to place; I remember that. The other one won and paid like $10 to win. Those were my second and third drives of my life. The first one I didn’t do any good with.

KW: What do you most enjoy about driving? What keeps you going?
KC: It’s still fun for me, even though I’ve been doing it for so long. I like the competition. I like the time with my dad, we talk about racing afterwards. It’s just in me.

KW: Did you play other sports when you were growing up?
KC: Baseball. I was a pretty good baseball player. I was a pretty good hitter. I played in high school and on rec teams. I’ve always been competitive.

KW: You and your brothers opened a restaurant years ago. Do you still have it?
KC: John and Tony originally opened it, then me and Tony owned it, then I owned it myself, and now Tony owns it with someone else. I had brought in a partner because I started getting back into the horses when the slots came into town and made the money better. I ended up selling the half that I owned back to Tony.

KW: What type of restaurant is it?
KC: Pizzeria.

KW: Which is harder, working in the restaurant or working with horses?
KC: Well, I like working with horses. I worked (at the restaurant) and I didn’t mind it. It wasn’t that bad. Obviously the restaurant is always nicer in the winter where I am. But in the summer you can’t beat jogging horses and racing horses. That’s ideal.

KW: Are you a good cook?
KC: I can cook a pizza for sure.

KW: I think two of the most difficult things you can do are run a restaurant and run a stable, and you’ve done both.
KC: They’re both time consuming. And it’s nonstop. The pizzeria closes only two or three days a year. Other than that, you’re married to it. When the opportunity came up to get back into the horses I jumped at it because my dad was still doing it. He was getting older and I wanted to help him. They say 10 years is about the limit for a guy in a pizzeria, and I was there 11 or 12 years. I was ready to move on.

KW: What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
KC: I would have to say, a few years back me and my dad owned an open horse together (named Arm And A Leg). For like three years he was like the best horse at the track. We had a lot of good memories from that horse. When I look back, I think of him. Also maybe the night I won the (2006) Kane Memorial with Michael Scores. He was a really good horse.

KW: What do you see for the future?
KC: I don’t plan on going anywhere. I don’t think the driving can get much better because I’m doing well right now. I’m happy with that because I know the business is up and down. It’s tough. You will have your downside so you’ve got to enjoy it while you’re there. The only thing that could get better is my stable of (eight) horses, but I had a decent year with them. You just have to take it all in stride.