by John Manzi, for the Monticello-Goshen chapter USHWA

Monticello, NY — When the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of USHWA hosts its 53rd annual awards banquet at Monticello Casino & Raceway on October 30, Joe Faraldo will be the recipient of the chapter’s Excelsior Award for his continued efforts on behalf of harness racing in New York State.

Joe Faraldo

Faraldo is a multi-dimensional individual and often wears many different hats. An attorney by trade, his love for the Standardbred industry has him involved in all facets of the sport.

He’s a horse owner, an amateur driver who is recognized worldwide as the U.S. Ambassador of amateur racing, a member of the U.S. Harness Writers Association, and a longtime USTA District chairman and its one-time Chairman of the Board.

Faraldo has been a volunteer at the U.S. Trotting Association’s amateur driving school he helped create for novices since day one, teaching others, not only about the rules and regulations of driving harness horses, but how to possibly avoid all the mistakes he has made on the racetrack as an amateur driver.

Sometimes feared, sometimes misunderstood, he is always a gentleman who handles himself with a level of integrity unsurpassed by anyone in the harness racing industry. In whatever role Faraldo has been in, he has always had one underlying goal — the good of the game. If Faraldo believes that you may do harm to the horsemen or to the game you will soon find reason to dislike him.

In his longtime and uncompensated role as leader of the horsemen’s association in downstate New York for over 30 years, he has accomplished much good in many circumstances that have tested him and his will to stand up for what he believes is in the best interest of the sport.

Of course Faraldo represents horsemen and horsemen’s organizations but he spends so much time in Albany fighting for the preservation of the industry in New York State that his face is nearly as familiar as any legislator who walks the halls of the Capitol. And his many, many trips to Albany fighting for the industry are done also without any remuneration and, as is said colloquially, “on his own dime.”

It’s no exaggeration that without Joe Faraldo there might not be harness racing in the state of New York; certainly not as we know it today.

During the early part of the new century, with declining profits and increasing losses, Tim Rooney, president of Yonkers Raceway, was forced to consider selling his facility. It’s no secret that without the advent of VLTs, Yonkers was close to suffering the same fate as Roosevelt Raceway.

With all the New York State tracks virtually hanging on by a thread, Faraldo never relinquished hope that they would be saved and he worked tirelessly to secure needed legislation for gaming at the New York State tracks and pledged the treasury of the SOA of NY, the organization he still heads, to make that a reality.

He recognized the need for extraordinary lobbying efforts and spared no effort to retain the very best practitioners to represent the sport. He made countless trips to Albany and led a series of marches on the Capitol. It was Faraldo who had the foresight to secure defined percentages in the law for the horsemen and breeders as well as minimum race date legislation, critical to the health and survival of the game.

Recently, his leadership spearheaded efforts by the Empire State Harness Horsemen’s Alliance for relief for horsemen who were wrongly assessed and overcharged workers compensation premiums. The change prevents insurance carriers from arbitrarily designating independent contractors, such as catch-drivers or shippers, as employees and collecting workers compensation premiums for those who are clearly not employees, thus saving horsemen thousands and thousands of dollars.

Faraldo also volunteered and worked tirelessly when called upon by the USTA at the International Medication Summit which was considering what race day medication policies (lasix), should, or should not, be implemented or continued, helping to protect the integrity of the racing industry and the welfare of the horse.

Most recently, the efforts of the SOA of NY and the Empire State Harness Horsemen’s Alliance, again under Faraldo’s encouragement, gained a very significant judicial opinion, striking down a well intended, but very ill conceived out of competition testing rules enacted in NYS over two years ago.

Faraldo joins George Brennan and others as one of the Monticello-Goshen chapter honorees at the October 30 awards dinner and both have been at it quite some time.

According to Faraldo, Brennan used to warm up his horses at Monticello when George was still in high school. According to George and other horsemen around New York State, Faraldo does all of this for the game because he truly loves it and because he so respects the hard work that horsemen put into the game.

“Joe puts in a ton of effort in on our behalf because he is one of us,” Brennan said.

Tickets and charity journal congratulatory ads are available by contacting banquet chairman John Manzi at 845.794.4100, ex. 455, or by e-mail at jmanzi@empireresorts.com.