Mal Burroughs took one ‘heck of a trip’ to the Hall of Fame
Malvern Burroughs’ life in harness racing was unique, in the most literal sense of the word.
He was one of one.
Born in northern New Jersey, Burroughs spent part of his childhood in Rutherford, N.J., less than three miles from the land that a couple decades later became the Meadowlands Sports Complex. As an adult, Burroughs’ construction company helped build a racetrack on the site, with Burroughs participating in the work atop heavy equipment.
This laid the groundwork for Burroughs’ participation in harness racing and his greatest moments in the sport. Burroughs became an amateur driver in the early 1980s and in the ensuing years won both the Hambletonian Oaks and Hambletonian — the two most prestigious events for 3-year-old trotters — at the Meadowlands.
He was the first, and still only, driver with amateur status to win the Oaks. He also remains the only amateur in harness racing history to capture both the Oaks (with the filly Gleam in 1994) and the Hambletonian (with the colt Malabar Man in 1997).
“He was very passionate about it. He had a good set of hands, actually, and he was a good student. I was really proud of how good he became. He just got better and better.”
– Jimmy Takter
“You couldn’t make up this story,” Burroughs once said, noting at another time, “I guess I’m the only guy who’s driven a tractor and a sulky there.”
In July 2024, Burroughs was elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, only to pass away 11 weeks later, at the age of 83. He will be inducted posthumously on July 6 as part of the Hall of Fame ceremonies in Goshen, N.Y.
“He was a character, but a great man,” said Jimmy Takter, who trained horses, including Gleam and Malabar Man, for Burroughs. “He accomplished so much in this sport, so I’m happy. It’s just too bad he isn’t around to enjoy the day.”
Burroughs spent his early childhood in his native Jersey City, N.J., and he said the first horse he ever saw had a police officer sitting on it. Following the death of his father in a car accident, Burroughs left school at the age of 16 to help support his family. He first worked on the Jersey City docks but was persuaded by a friend to get into the construction business. Burroughs borrowed $8,000 to purchase a used dump truck and was on his way.
In 1966, the 25-year-old Burroughs and the Burroughs Construction Company participated in the excavation of the site for the World Trade Center in Manhattan. His company also was contracted for major roadway projects in New Jersey in addition to working on the Meadowlands Racetrack, and Burroughs later expanded into commercial real estate.
Burroughs’ first foray into Standardbred horse ownership came when he bought a pacer in 1972, but the venture was neither successful nor satisfying. The arrival of the Meadowlands Racetrack, which opened in September 1976, rekindled Burroughs’ interest in the sport, and he purchased a yearling pacer named Distant Thunder for $25,500 at a Tattersalls sale two months later.
Armed with the book Care & Training of the Trotter & Pacer, published by the USTA, Burroughs set out to condition Distant Thunder himself. He eventually turned over the duties to trainer Bill Vaughan, and Distant Thunder went on to win 15 races and earn $162,289 in his career.
Burroughs continued in ownership, but the idea of driving always appealed to him. When the Billings Amateur Series was founded in the early 1980s, Burroughs had his path to the racetrack. He started buying horses to race in the series, one of which, Fickle Yankee, earned $131,102 lifetime and became the granddam of Malabar Man.
“I believe you run your whole life the way you want to. I’ve never told anybody they shouldn’t do something they wanted to do.”
– Mal Burroughs
By the end of the 1980s, Burroughs had 32 driving victories over an eight-year span, but the best was yet to come as his partnership with Takter blossomed in the 1990s.
“We met and became friends,” Takter said. “He would come down and train, and he wanted to get better as a driver. He liked it when I was tough on him. He figured that if he had to compete and be better than just an amateur driver, he needed somebody that stayed after him. He wanted criticism so that he could get better.
“He was very passionate about it. He had a good set of hands, actually, and he was a good student. I was really proud of how good he became. He just got better and better.”
Burroughs bought Gleam as a yearling in 1992 with the intention of driving her in stakes action, but after two starts as a 2-year-old, he turned over the lines to Takter.
“I didn’t think she was really ready for him,” said Takter, who won his first Breeders Crown with Gleam later that season. “She was a very nice horse, but she needed a little bit more experience behind her to get her right. Then he drove her all the 3-year-old season. She was a fantastic horse; really, really good.”
Burroughs won eight of 11 races with the 3-year-old Gleam in 1994, highlighted by their triumph in the Hambletonian Oaks. The tandem also won the Filly World Trotting Derby, and Gleam received the Dan Patch Award for best sophomore trotting filly.
“That [Oaks] race with Gleam is one I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Burroughs said in a 1997 Asbury Park (N.J.) Press interview several days before his Hambletonian drive with Malabar Man. “That was the first break for me at this level.”
Burroughs maintained his amateur status by donating his 5% driver’s fee to charity, primarily to Seton Hall Seminary in honor of a priest who helped guide Burroughs after his father’s death. Burroughs actually drove once in the Hambletonian prior to his race with Malabar Man. Burroughs finished fifth from post 10 with Climbing Bud, the longest shot on the board at 52-1, in the 1995 edition won by Tagliabue.
Some people thought Burroughs should have given the drive with Climbing Bud to a professional, but the horse’s owner took the comments in stride.
“I believe you run your whole life the way you want to,” Burroughs said in an Associated Press story prior to the race. “I’ve never told anybody they shouldn’t do something they wanted to do.
“Obviously, [the Hambletonian is] the ultimate prize. Therefore, I’m going to try to achieve that. If I don’t, does that mean my life isn’t full? It wouldn’t be if I didn’t try.”
Malabar Man, a son of Supergill-Lady Love McBur, was bred by Burroughs. The colt survived illness and Burroughs survived a serious heart attack before the two made it to the races in 1996. Malabar Man began his career on the New Jersey fair circuit before heading to the Grand Circuit in late summer. By the time Burroughs and Malabar Man reached the final of the Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters at Mohawk Raceway, the colt had won 11 of 12 starts and Burroughs had gained the attention of his peers.
“Malvern Burroughs is the type of guy who’s been successful in everything he’s ever done in life,” driver Bill O’Donnell, a Hall of Famer in the U.S. and Canada, said in a Canadian Press story prior to the final. “He’s doing something right.”
Said future Canadian Hall of Fame driver Steve Condren, “If I was Malvern Burroughs, I’d be very proud of what he’s accomplished so far.”
Malabar Man went on to win the Breeders Crown, making Burroughs the first amateur to capture a trophy in the history of the series, which began in 1984. Malabar Man ended the campaign with 13 wins, a second-place finish and a third-place finish in 15 starts, and he received the Dan Patch Award as the sport’s best 2-year-old male trotter.
All along, though, Burroughs told people that the 1997 Hambletonian was his top target. Malabar Man opened his sophomore season with six straight victories, including his Breeders Crown elimination, and then won the $1 million final by a length over Takter-trained stablemate Take Chances a week later at the Meadowlands.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to be here, standing here today as a Hambletonian winner,” the then 56-year-old Burroughs said in an Associated Press story. “I was a contractor 20 years ago and then I got into harness racing, and that’s my life now. I even gave up golf and fishing.
“This is a relief. A lot was expected, and I don’t like to let people down.”
Burroughs’ patient ground-saving journey along the inside pylons off a pocket trip made him the second amateur to win the Hambletonian, joining Harrison Hoyt, who accomplished the feat in 1948 with Demon Hanover.
“That’s just the way I would have driven him,” said Hoyt, who, at the age of 87, attended the race. “You have to save your horse because you never know what will happen.”
Hoyt once was asked what advice he would give someone trying to win the Hambletonian. He responded, “Have the best horse.” Burroughs did, but that only added to the weight of expectations heading into the Hambletonian final.
“For horses, it’s just another race. But it never is just another race for us,” said Takter, who got the first of his four career training victories in the Hambletonian with Malabar Man. “There was a lot of pressure on him because he was such a big favorite. When he pulled it off, I was very happy for him.”
If any skeptics remained prior to the Hambletonian questioning Burroughs’ ability to handle Malabar Man on the sport’s biggest stage, the talk had no effect on the connections.
“We didn’t care too much,” Takter said. “He owned the horse, and he was the one that was going to suffer the most if he messed up. He didn’t do much to mess up with that horse. He handled that horse very well.”
Malabar Man and Burroughs teamed to win a second Breeders Crown in the fall, and the colt concluded his career with a track-record victory in the Orsi Mangelli at San Siro in Milan, Italy. For the season, Malabar Man won 13 of 16 races, finished second in his three losses, and earned more than $1.6 million. That sophomore record earned him 1997 Horse of the Year honors, and he was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2008.
Burroughs finished his driving career in 2005 with 109 victories. He is one of only 14 drivers in history to win both the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks.
His contributions to harness racing extended beyond the track. He was actively involved in leading organizations within the sport, including the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, the Hambletonian Society, and the Harness Horse Youth Foundation.
Burroughs once said years ago that his path in racing was a heck of a trip. From a tractor to a sulky and now to the Hall of Fame. A heck of a trip, indeed.
This piece appears in the July 2025 issue of Hoof Beats, the official magazine of the USTA. To learn more, or to become a subscriber to harness racing’s premier monthly publication, click here.