by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Goshen, NY — Kerinna Coffey graduated from school earlier this month, which enabled her to finally go to school.

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Kerinna Coffey from Queens, NY is one of 19 women attending Driving School.

Coffey wanted to attend the United States Trotting Association Driving School for several years, but the date always conflicted with optometry school. Coffey completed optometry school on June 1 and was able to fit in Driving School this week – one week before getting married.

“I’ve got everything going on at once,” Coffey said with a laugh.

Coffey, who was introduced to harness racing by her fiancé, is among 19 women participating in the Driving School, which attracted 48 students from 14 states. Coffey lives in Queens.

“I used to take riding lessons when I was younger and I’ve always loved horses,” Coffey said. “I would love to be around horses, but I haven’t had the opportunity to be around horses for at least a decade now. They’re not part of my daily life. I miss that.

“I came here because I wanted to get more knowledge about harness racing and be hands-on with horses again. Even though I rode when I was younger, I never got to do much of the barn work, much of the hands-on stuff that way. This has been a great experience.”

The USTA Driving School is being held at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, Historic Track, and the Mark Ford Training Center in Middletown. Students receive hands-on experiences at local stables as well as classroom sessions with trainers, drivers and veterinarians.

Trainers opening their stables to the group include Ray Schnittker at Historic Track plus Mark Ford, Scott Blackler, Tyler and Amber Buter, Jean Drolet, Rob and Patty Harmon, and Brandon Simpson at the Mark Ford Training Center.

Saturday’s classes included a session on amateur driving with Joe Faraldo and Lon Frocione.

Driving School continues through Sunday, when participants can take the written portions of the trainer and driver exams. There also will be an exhibition race at Historic Track featuring several selected students.

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Lester “L.G.” Smeal is a 19-year-old PA resident who has worked with Thoroughbreds.

Coffey would like to own a racehorse sometime in the future, after getting settled into her career as an optometrist.

“In an ideal world, a few years in the future when I have some more resources, I’d like to own a racehorse; maybe a couple of racehorses,” Coffey said. “I’d like to go to the barn in the morning and jog my horse and maybe paddock my horse before the race.

“The Standardbreds are so great to work with; so amenable and patient,” she added. “This is really an advantage harness racing has to attract a new fan base. People who have no horse experience can get up and close with the horses, which you could never do with Thoroughbred racing. You can really interact with them. People can see how exciting it is because they can get more involved with it.”

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Lester “L.G.” Smeal also would like to be more involved in harness racing in several years. The 19-year-old Pennsylvania resident hopes to have his own stable of horses to train and drive.

“I first saw [harness racing] at the Clearfield Fair in 2009 and ever since then I’ve wanted to get in it,” Smeal said. “I came out here to learn the ins and outs of things so I could get ready to do this a couple years from now. I want to have my own stable. I like the personalities of the horses.”

Smeal, who has worked with Thoroughbreds and just recently got a Standardbred, has built his own jog carts. During the Driving School, he wore a camera on his helmet so he could watch video of his time on the track as well as review conversations he had with his instructors.

“This is a great school,” Smeal said. “I recommend anyone interested in harness racing to come. It’s just awesome. I love being with the horses all day.”

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Alan Roberts, a retiree from Tennessee, recently acquired two Standardbreds.

Alan and Cathy Roberts, a retired couple from Tennessee, like to drive horses for pleasure and recently acquired two Standardbreds. They came to Driving School to learn more about the breed, and to determine how deeply involved they want to become in the sport.

“We like the breed and want to learn more about it,” said Alan Roberts, who worked as an air traffic controller. “We just enjoy them. [Racing] is hard because you have to go out of state, but just being around the horses is enjoyable.”

Roberts joked that the couple came to Driving School to work with horses, even though they have horses at home.

“But it’s what we enjoy,” Roberts said.

“You’ve got to respect all the [grooms] in the background that you don’t hear about all the time; they’re really the backbone of everything,” he added. “I like seeing the conditioning part and how much work goes into it. This is full time. This is seven days a week.”

Despite the hard work, Roberts would consider training his own horses to race.

“It would be fun to do,” he said. “I enjoy the training part of it. I just wish there was more to do in Tennessee.

“This is good to learn how much everything costs, what it takes to be involved. You can determine how much you want to do, how much work you want to go through. I enjoy being around the horses.”