by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Frank Coppola, Jr. turns 50 on Sunday, but he already has reason to celebrate. Coppola, who returned to fulltime harness racing in 2008, is on his way to his 10th driving title at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway and recently broke his own track record for wins in a year.

Coppola, who has lived in the Saratoga area since the age of 1, entered Tuesday with 327 wins this season. All of his victories have come at Saratoga, where he set the previous record of 321 triumphs last year. His 327 wins are tied with Brian Sears for 30th in North America.

Over the past two years, Coppola has driven in a total of 3,178 races. From 1994 through 2006, Coppola made a total of 7,677 starts (an average of 548 per year) while working for the Saratoga Department of Public Works.

“I came back and things just clicked,” said Coppola, who still has his day job as a supervisor in the water utilities department. “In 1994 we just weren’t racing for much money and I wasn’t willing to leave the area — this is where my family is — so I took a job working for the city of Saratoga. It was a little sad because (working with the horses) was all I’d ever done. But I tried to be a little realistic about things, too. It just wasn’t worth the time and the effort.

“After we got the VLTs and the money got better, I got a little pressure from some of my old buddies from the track saying I should come back,” he said. “I decided to come back a little bit and it took off. This is not what I expected. I’m very fortunate.”

The decision to return to racing on a regular basis was not reached easily.

Dave Oxford photo

Frank Coppola, Jr. won the 4,000th race of his career behind Lola Palooza on September 25, 2008 at Saratoga.

“I was used to having my Friday and Saturday nights off and my Sunday afternoons,” Coppola said with a chuckle. “It was a big decision. My wife (Eileen) and I had to discuss it. I’d watch the races once in a while on TV and I would think I could still do that, if I ever wanted to.

“I’m enjoying it. We’re busy, but it’s worth it for now.”

Coppola, who was Saratoga’s Horseman of the Year last season and earned the honor seven times between 1987 and 2001, followed his father into the racing business. Frank Sr. was a farmer in New Jersey when his brother, Tony, took him to Yonkers Raceway one night.

“My father right then decided it was what he wanted to do,” Coppola said. “He went to work at Yonkers and migrated to Saratoga. I grew up in the business. We had 42 acres with a half-mile track. We had broodmares. When we were done at school, we came home to work. It was all about the horses.”

Coppola has won 4,424 races in his career, and the thought of reaching 5,000 will be used as motivation in the coming years. Still, Coppola knows there will come a time — again — when it’s time to walk away.

“When I’m not doing too good, I won’t be doing it,” Coppola said. “I can’t tell you where that is at this point. I’ll know when it is. I’ll just step away.”

For now, that’s not a concern. In addition to his 327 wins this year — a career best — Coppola has set a personal mark for seasonal purses with $1.91 million. Last year, horses driven by Coppola banked $1.85 million.

“The last couple years I’ve driven better horses than I’ve ever driven before,” Coppola said. “People will pay to bring a horse to race here in the open pace or open trot. That’s nice.

“It’s fun to win races. Just driving some real nice horses is satisfying and it’s fun to drive for some of the guys I drove for in the past. I like the atmosphere at the track.”