Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ – Paul Minore, the self-proclaimed King of the 14-year-olds, is at it again.

The veteran owner/driver, who first climbed into a sulky at age 45, is now racing the fourth elder statesman of his 29-year career with Racintowardadream.

Racintowardadream winning at Monticello in 2022. Geri Schwarz photo.

After a victory Monday (Dec. 18) at Monticello Raceway, the gelding has 76 lifetime triumphs. He ranks second in wins among 14-year-old trotters in action, trailing only Natural Forces with 87. Natural Forces’ total puts him tied for 15th on the all-time list for trotters.

Minore, a former track-and-field coach who helped develop Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis at Willingboro High in New Jersey, bred Jersey Blizzard and Another Blizzard, both of whom he drove in their later years.

Jersey Blizzard retired after his 14-year-old campaign in 1997 with 51 wins and $804,990 in purses. Another Blizzard, who got the last of his 89 career triumphs as a 14-year-old in 2003, banked $910,897 lifetime.

Another Blizzard is tied for eighth in career wins for trotters. Minore, who has 119 lifetime victories as a driver, captured the 1999 Billings Drivers Series Delvin Miller Gold Cup with Another Blizzard.

In 2013, Minore bought a then 6-year-old Wygand Prince, who also competed to age 14 and posted 45 victories while earning $504,667.

All Standardbred racehorses reach mandatory retirement, with limited exceptions including races for amateurs, when their 14-year-old season is completed.

“Jersey Blizzard was my first owner/trainer/driver horse; he had already won over $600,000 when I took him over,” Minore said. “What happened with Jersey Blizzard and Another Blizzard, when they turned 11, I took over driving them. They weren’t really open horses for me. Usually, I drove them in amateur races and overnights. I bought Wygand Prince when he was 6 and exclusively drove him the last four or five years in pro races, amateur races.

“I could be the only USTA owner/driver who has driven four 14-year-olds. And those four have made $2.6 million between them all.”

Racintowardadream, a son of Like A Prayer-Racy Roz, was bred by Fredericka, Daniel, and Elizabeth Caldwell, and claimed by Minore in June 2022.

“Stevie Ray had him for most of his career,” Minore said. “I always liked the horse, I always had horses at Monticello with Richie Campolong. I’d try to go up there and drive every once in a while in the amateurs.

“I was watching this horse, but I wouldn’t claim him from Stevie Ray because he had trained one or two for me and was close friends with Richie. Somebody claimed him from Stevie Ray, so for me it was open game.”

Minore claimed Racintowardadream for $12,500.

“I figured for 12.5 I could claim him and drive him myself and have some fun with him,” Minore said. “That was my motivation. The price was right, and he would finish every week. It didn’t look like he would leave a step, but he finished every week.”

In 423 starts, the horse has 76 firsts, 62 seconds and 69 thirds while winning $372,171. Unfortunately for his owner, he doesn’t seem to want to win with Minore in the bike. Racing almost entirely at Monticello, the trotter has won 11 times over the past two seasons, but Paul is 0-for-9 sitting behind him.

“When you put him in an amateur race, he’s in against $17,500 claimers and unless absolutely everything goes his way it’s tough on him, especially at that age,” Minore said. “He’s getting a little slower.

“I do have a plan. I don’t know if it’s gonna work, but I do plan on driving him in his last start Dec. 26, if he gets in and the race fills. I hope everything works out. I would like to drive him in his last start.”

After that final race, Minore will retire the horse to Taylor Gower’s farm in Cream Ridge, NJ, where he will serve as a riding horse for Stevie Ray’s daughter.

In comparing his current 14-year-old with the other three, Minore said there are no similarities. Whereas the Blizzards and Wygand Prince “could step off the gate like a Thoroughbred,” Racintowardadream has no such ability.

“He’s the opposite of all the other ones,” Minore said. “The old horse is fit, but he has so little gate speed. No matter where he is he’s gonna start two or three places behind where he needs to be. He just doesn’t get around the first turn. In amateur racing I could control the races with those other horses, they made me look good.

“That’s not to talk the old horse down. When I claimed him, he was just finishing so, so, so well. He was just sitting there three wide in the last turn, and he’d come on and be first, second or third almost every week. That’s why it was such an interesting claim for me.

“Basically, the horses I look for are the kind I can drive myself in amateur races. It didn’t really work out as well as I expected with him, as shown by my 0-for-9 record. But it’s still fun, it’s still nice to own a horse like that.”

As for his personality, Racintowardadream does present some challenges.

“I’m not around him as much as the trainers are, but he’s a little bit of a pain in the butt,” Minore said with a laugh. “He will drag you around warming up and I think he does that to Richie when he’s training. Once you turn him to go to the gate, he behaves himself well, he just can’t get around the first turn. You lose ground and he gets better and better as the race goes on. If you can get him involved, he finishes well.

“So maybe on Dec. 26, if things work out, I’ll get a great trip.”

And cap another journey with a four-legged senior citizen.