Hightstown, NJ – John Fodera has been involved in harness racing for nearly 65 years, and he has worked in various capacities at St. Peter’s Boys High School on Staten Island for 59, and he credits both pursuits for keeping him young at heart.
“When I’m out there with the football team, or the basketball team, or the track team, and when you’re working with 16- to 18-year-olds, you are perpetually young,” said Fodera, who is the president of St. Peter’s Boys High School, where he previously worked as a teacher and principal. “I feel the same way about the racing business. Whether you’re in an overnight or in a Grand Circuit race, when you’re rooting on a horse coming down the stretch, you feel perpetually young.
“I believe that very strongly. Of course, family always comes first, but I’ve been blessed with my career and the horses. I think staying young and feeling this energetic can be largely attributed to the horses and the kids at school.”
Fodera will have plenty of opportunities to feel young Saturday at The Meadowlands as he co-owns at least one horse in each of the $125,000 Grade 3 Kindergarten Classic Series finals – six 2-year-olds in total. His horses are female trotter Duicinea Hanover (trained by Noel Daley) male trotter Highball Hanover (Daley), male pacers Louaville (Nancy Takter) and Apocalypsebluechip (Joe Bongiorno) and female pacers Amira Hanover (Bongiorno) and Heartofthesunrise (Linda Toscano).
Only one of the horses will start from inside of post seven – Amira Hanover, who will leave from post two with Bongiorno driving and is 8-1 on the morning line. Highball Hanover, who will start his final from post nine with Andy McCarthy in the sulky, is the sextet’s top pick on the morning line, at 6-1.
But post positions and morning-line odds won’t diminish Fodera’s enthusiasm.
“You’re always hoping, no matter what the post position might be,” Fodera said. “It’s an accomplishment just to get this far.
“It’s just part of what I believe in, and part of my enjoyment of the business, that you’ve got to be in it to win it. That’s something I’ve lived by, not only in the horse business but in sports and education at St. Peter’s. You’ve got to be in it to win. Whether 100-1 or 3-5, we know it can go any way on an isolated day in an isolated event.”
Highball Hanover, a son of Bar Hopping-Hall Of A Dream who has earned $103,906 this season, won a Kindergarten division in September and a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes division in August. He also had second-place finishes in two Grand Circuit races at The Red Mile.
“He’s done very well,” said Fodera, who shares ownership of Highball Hanover with Sjoblom Racing & M. Dolan, Joe Sbrocco, Caviart Farms, and P C Wellwood Enterprises. “I’m high on him despite his post position on Saturday, which could make it difficult for him. Noel has done a great job with him. We did not over-race him in any manner, shape or form.”
Amira Hanover has two wins this season, both on the Grand Circuit, in a division of the Kindergarten and a division of the Bluegrass Stakes (G3). The daughter of Papi Rob Hanover-Ameraway has banked $73,500 for owners Fodera (as In The Gym Partners with Steve Wienick), Let It Ride Stables, Patrick O’Brien, and Sbrocco.
“She has proven herself all the way through,” Fodera said. “She is a filly that Joey likes very much, and she has been pretty steady.”
Heartofthesunrise, a daughter of Captaintreacherous-Along Came Miki, has one victory this year, which came in a Kentucky Sire Stakes start in July at Oak Grove. She has finished third in two Kindergarten starts, most recently last week when she came home with a :26.4 last quarter.
“Linda has worked very hard to get her this far, and now she is starting to show some of the talent she has,” said Fodera, who owns the filly with breeders Country Club Acres and Sbrocco, as well as Don Latore.
Louaville (Sweet Lou-American Cheer) and Apocalypsebluechip (Papi Rob Hanover-Queen Of Darkness) both bring one win to their final while Duicinea Hanover is still searching for her first victory but has hit the board five times in nine races.
“I think Duicinea Hanover is the sleeper of the group,” Fodera said about the daughter of Greenshoe-Dew To Win that he owns with Harbor Racing Stable, Sbrocco, James McGovern, and Vincent Urciuoli. “She’s just very green, very immature, but has lightning speed and talent. She had a race (a second-place finish in the Kindergarten on Sept. 12) where she trotted her last quarter in :26.4. When you see a 2-year-old trot like that, you know there is some potential.”
Racing begins at 6:20 p.m. (EDT) Saturday at The Meadowlands. For free TrackMaster past performances, visit The Big M website here. Coverage of the races will air live from 8-11 p.m. on FOX Sports 2 (FS2).