by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — When 85 year old John Bach of Goshen, New York, celebrates his 86th birthday on Saturday, July 3, he’ll be perfectly happy to wait one more day for a gift. The gift Bach would really like to get is a win at Goshen Historic Track with Flirtinwithcowboys. The 3-year-old trotting filly, co-owned by Bach with John Wasco of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, is on the upswing after a 2-year-old career cut short with soreness.

She’ll start from post seven in the first race for New York-sired horses, racing for a purse of $15,000 with John Stark driving. Flirtinwithcowboys has two wins in eight starts this year, including a win the New York Sire Stakes at Buffalo on June 19 in 2:01.4 for a purse of $26,167. Her most recent start was a fourth place finish in a Sire Stake at Yonkers Raceway.

While Flirtinwithcowboys is new at the harness racing game, with less than 10 starts lifetime, her co-owner is an old hand at harness racing.

“I’m a native of Goshen and I’ve been with the Harrimans (former owners of Historic Track) since long ago,” says Bach, who is an official timer for the races at Goshen. “I was clerk of the course after the war in 1945 for decades (at Historic Track). I’ve always been with the horses, my folks have always been with the horses, my father worked for (Stanley) Dancer before he died. I had a brother, Fred, who was leading driver at Saratoga for years and he ended up driving prompters in time trials all over the country.”

Bach has dabbled in almost every area of racing, including driving, though his last start was exactly 29 years ago, July 3, 1981, also at Goshen, but he’s made his living outside racing.

“I was a real estate broker and I owned a title company, now called Hill-N-Dale Abstracters,” he says. “I judged at Syracuse years ago, until they stopped racing there and I was timer there and I do that here in Goshen also. When I was a kid, going back to the mile track (Good Time Park, now defunct), we used to park cars and usher there when we were kids. My lifetime dream was to win a New York Sire Stake and we won that in Buffalo a couple weeks ago.”

Bach says he’s won some races in the last 29 years, but none in Goshen. He’ll be in the judges’ stand as usual, stopwatch in hand for all the races on his birthday, July 3, and the day he hopes to get a gift from Flirtinwithcowboys, July 4.

Trainer Chet Poole says post position seven won’t help Flirtinwithcowboys, but he’s optimistic she will do well.

“She should do pretty well, but she’s green and not experienced like the fillies that raced last year. She trots pretty well most of the time. She never made a break all of last year and over the winter, but this year when she got a little excited, she started making breaks. This happened two or three times and I put the trotting hopples on her and she seems fine now.”

Poole said he thought Flirtinwithcowboys had a shot to win her $46,642 New York Sire Stakes event on June 26 at Yonkers, but the passing lane was her undoing.

“I was disappointed at Yonkers,” said Poole. “She got in the passing lane (on the inside of the homestretch) and she didn’t know what to do. A young horse like her, she knows when you pull on the right line to go, but when you pull on the left line — she’s learning. It can be hard to catch up to the other fillies who raced last year, but she’s smart and she does things right.”

Poole says that Bach’s co-owner, John Wasco, has a strong tie to Flirtinwithcowboys.

“He owned her mother, Fancy Winner. She had EPM (Equine Protozoal Myelitis) so bad we had to quit with her. But he donated her to the Morrisville College program and they bred her to Malabar Man and got this filly. He wanted to buy her and Mr. Bach came in as a partner on her.”

The filly was a $12,000 purchase in the fall of 2008. If she wins the $15,000 race, it should be enough for 86 candles for John Bach and a sweet win after waiting 29 years for a victory at Goshen.

Racing continues at Goshen Historic Track on July 3, 4 and 5, post time 1 p.m. Children are admitted for free, adults are $5 which includes a program. For more information, go to www.goshenhistorictrack.com.