by Charlene Polk, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Charlene Polk

Laurel, DE — Kyle Moore is no stranger to the racetrack.

Although you might have found him at a go-kart track in his early years or maybe later even a dirt-modified car track, these days the 22-year-old Moore is a fixture at Delaware’s harness racing tracks. The Laurel resident has been a key part of his grandmother Doris Marine’s stable since he was a teenager.

“I’ve been around some type of racing ever since I was little,” Moore said. “This is what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Now that he’s spent several years under the guidance of his grandparents, Moore has begun taking on more of the stable’s training responsibilities. Along with helping Marine daily with close to a dozen horses, Moore trains the 5-year-old claimer Knock Out Pretty. So far the mare has missed just one check this year.

Kyle Moore

“She has her issues,” he said. “She’s fast but her immune system is a little on the weak side.”

Although the daughter of Badlands Hanover-Presidential Pad is the only horse listed as one of Moore’s pupils in the program, he is quite proud of one of the other horses he has worked with during the past two years.

“Artistic Wonder is my favorite,” Moore said. “He was on his last leg when we got him and I helped him get back to winning.”

Moore said swimming the now 11-year-old claimer was what turned him around. In 2009 the son of Camluck-Artistic Pleasure hit the board in 25 out of 30 starts, with a mark of 1:54.2f and earnings of $55,646. Artistic Wonder has started his 2010 season at Dover Downs, and although he already boasts a respectable two wins and a second in three starts, Moore maintains that his goal for the year is to have the pacer equal last year’s impressive stats.

“To have Artistic Wonder win more than 10!” Moore said.

Charlene Polk photos

Kyle Moore works on his favorite horse, Artistic Wonder.

To those who have known Moore since he was 12 or 13, it should come as no surprise that his mornings and most of his nights are spent with Artistic Wonder and his stablemates at either the training farm or racetrack. Growing up just seven minutes from his grandparents’ farm, Moore was quick to start helping with barn work on the weekends, which soon led to racing ponies with the likes of other soon-to-be horsemen such as Brandon Givens and Jason Green.

When he graduated from high school Moore had no plans of attending college, opting instead to move into harness racing full time, something his parents weren’t exactly thrilled about.

“They’d rather see me do something more reliable,” Moore said. “They were against it at first but now my mom will call me after we race and ask how we’ve done.”

And while he did enjoy driving his pony in the half-mile dashes as a teenager, Moore says that these days he prefers to focus solely on the training side of the sport.

“I like the behind the scenes stuff,” he said. “You never know how each horse is going to act day to day, and it makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something when they win.”