by Carol Hodes, for the SBOANJ

Manalapan, NJ — Harry Landy of Monroe Township, N.J. gave himself the best birthday present he could ever have. On his 18th birthday, on the first day he could hold a professional harness driver’s license, he posted his first official victory.

“This smile and dirt in my teeth won’t come off for the next week,” Landy told his friends on Facebook minutes after he scored a half-length victory with Jet Escape in the tenth race at Freehold Raceway.

“I got a horse that hates to win to the (winner’s) circle,” added Landy, who had been competing on the amateur drivers circuit. “That’s how it’s done.”

Landy, whose family hosted a buffet lunch at Freehold Raceway to celebrate his January 21 birthday, as well as kick off his professional driving career, had three opportunities on the Freehold program.

He finished fifth with the first two tries — Machine Maker in the fourth race and Where’s Harry in the seventh.

Both Where’s Harry and the winner, Jet Escape, are owned by Landy’s grandfather, longtime horse owner and breeder Eugene Landy of Rumson, N.J. Landy’s father, Sam, has been a driver/trainer for 32 years.