Cappello reflects on his outstanding career
August 15, 2012,by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent
Rich Fisher
Trenton, NJ — At 53, Dan Cappello, Jr. has become a homebody.
But that’s not a bad thing, considering his home track has been pretty darn good to him.
Cappello, who has driven predominantly at Saratoga Casino and Raceway since 1983, became the first regular driver to win his 5,000th race at the Spa in the 70-year history of the track on Aug. 4. He did so by driving Cheyenne Cam to a wire-to-wire victory.
Later in the night he guided Dancin Yankee to first in the first leg of the Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pacing Series in a near-track record time. Dancin Yankee finished second in the second leg and is considered one of the favorites in Saturday’s $130,000 final.
Cappello also won his 1,000th, 2,000th, 3,000th and 4,000th races while in the sulky at Saratoga, which is the only track he has raced on since video gaming was approved a decade ago.
Dan Cappello, Jr. recently won his 5,000th career race.
“I’ve been here most of my life racing, so this only means one thing — I’m getting old,” Cappello said of his 5,000th. Turning serious he added “It felt really good. I didn’t really know I was that close until somebody told me that I had four left to get there. But it feels great. It was really nice to get it here.”
Cappello has been around horses all his life, learning the sport from his father as a boy and beginning his racing career in his teens. And while he jokes that he can’t remember what happened yesterday, he remembers that beginning like it was yesterday.
“I definitely know I won my first race in Harrington, Delaware,” he said. “I have no clue when that was, but it was with Gallant Romeo, the horse that I owned. When I pulled him out, he went right by the field and I won by 20. He circled the field.”
By the late 1970s, the Ballston Spa resident began driving at Monticello. He remained there for five years before becoming a regular at Saratoga in 1983. It was time to settle down.
“My father used to go back and forth a lot, he used to move a lot,” Cappello said. “We had a farm here, and the area here is so nice. It’s just beautiful here.”
It didn’t take Dan Jr. long to establish himself at his local track. He finished sixth in the Saratoga standings and was the 1983 Johnny Page Award winner, which goes to the Spa’s top up-and-coming driver.
Dan Cappello, Jr. is congratulated in the winner’s circle after winning his 5,000th career race.
Cappello proved himself worthy of that award, having won eight driving titles and consistently finishing near the top of the standings. He is currently in second behind two-time defending champion Billy Dobson.
In the early 1990s, Cappello suffered his only serious injury when he broke his collarbone.
“I don’t remember how old I was, but it was when the first Gulf War broke out,” he recalled. “I remember just sitting at home watching the war on TV with (CNN reporter) Wolf Blitzer talking about what was going on.”
But Cappello bounced back better than ever. In 1993 he won his 1,000th race behind BJ’s Power and beginning in 1995, he won Saratoga’s Horseman of the Year three straight seasons. He earned the award for the fourth time in 2007.
For a while Cappello traveled to different tracks but soon became a regular at Saratoga.
“I don’t want to travel much anymore,” he said. “I used to go around to sire stakes, but when you’re driving a horse that’s fifth best it’s kind of a waste of time. I just got a little tired of it.
“Now that I’m older, I don’t want to travel as much. And the money is better here.”
It got better once the track also became a casino. That’s when Cappello stopped driving in Pompano Park, Fla., in the winter.
“I would leave here in October, come back in April,” he said. “I did that for a bunch of years in the ’80s and ’90s. But once they got the slots here, I didn’t go anywhere.”
But he didn’t stick around to shove coins in machines.
“They don’t interest me at all,” he said. “But I’m glad people are interested in them. Once in a while I’ll go into the casino, but I play black jack.”
Driving is his true skill, however, as he showed that once again by taking Cheyenne Cam wire-to-wire in the milestone victory — a practice that has become a Cappello trademark.
“I cut the mile,” he said. “I was in front all the way and the horse just hung on. I really didn’t expect to get (the 5,000th) with him. He hadn’t been racing that well, but he raced good that night.”
Cappello now takes aim on his second straight Gerrity championship. He said last year’s win with the Josh Green-trained This Is Wyatt was “about the biggest race I ever won.”
He has a good shot at repeating this year with Dancin Yankee, who is also trained by Green. Dancin Yankee won his first leg division in 1:51.1, a mere fifth of a second off Saratoga’s all-time track record.
“(Green) does a fantastic job and the horse is a fantastic horse,” Cappello said. “He’s just overall a really good horse. He got caught in and got out late (in the first leg) but really finished good. He seems if he gets a break and gets lucky he’s got a good shot at winning the final.
“It all depends on the position he gets. But he’s probably in the top four or five horses out there.”
And while Cappello is excited about Saturday’s race, he is realistic about his future in the sport.
“I’m hoping I can retire soon,” he said. “I’m getting old.
“I just don’t feel I get as pumped up anymore. Maybe everybody gets that way, I don’t know. God forbid something happens. I don’t bounce like I used to. That’s not a fun feeling.”
When he does hang it up, Cappello can look back on his career with justifiable pride.
“I’ve been fortunate and lucky over the years to get good horses to drive,” he said. “There are a lot of drivers out there better than me, but it all comes down to the horses you get.”
And when Cappello gets the good ones, he knows what to do with them.