Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Every Standardbred horseman should have Joe Smith’s attitude.

“I love the sport, I like the people, and I like to celebrate when things go well,” the 82-year-old owner said. “Last Tuesday, when Mississippi Storm won (the Open Handicap) at Dover, that was cause for celebration. I like looking at the replays and getting the win photos.

“But when the races don’t go well, when nothing happens or there’s weeds growing in the pot, I really don’t let it get me down. You can’t. There’s so many things that can go wrong, so many ups and downs.”

That may sound like Smith is just in it for fun; but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I try to look at it as a business, where you’ve got to look at your volume; spending profit,” he said. “I don’t look at it as a hobby. We try to be financially frugal. I wish more people viewed it more as a business and not as a hobby.”

It has been a fairly successful business for the Buffalo native who now calls Vero Beach, Fla., his home.

Smith previously headed up the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company before stepping down in 1998.

“I’m not gainfully employed at all,” he said. “I’m a professional retiree.”

He’s also a successful retiree in looking at the horses he purchased.

Mississippi Storm, a 7-year-old male trotter, has earned nearly $600,000 for Joe Smith and his trainer, Tom Fanning. Fotowon photo.

The aforementioned Mississippi Storm, a 7-year-old male trotter, has earned nearly $600,000 for Smith and his trainer, Tom Fanning.

“My favorite now is Mississippi Storm,” Smith said. “He’s a Cantab Hall (out of Mississippi Beauty). His next outing will be Friday at Yonkers. He’s got really good gate speed and he gets around the turns very well.”

Last year, Mississippi Storm raced 16 times at Yonkers and won five in the Open Handicap and one in the Preferred Handicap. He hit the board a total of 11 starts. For his career, the gelding has won 30 of 97 races.

Smith purchased Mississippi Storm’s full sister last October at the Lexington Selected Sale for $50,000 under the name Cher and renamed her Mississippi Gale.

“My wife said there’s no way we’re going to have a horse named Cher,” Joe said. “She might have liked Sonny all right, but Cher wasn’t going to work out at all.”

But Mississippi Storm is hardly the lone success story for the Smith-Fanning team.

Early in his career, Smith had some good pacers in Pacific Renegade, Allamerican Idol, and Hail Storm. He and Fanning switched to trotters around 2013 after Smith bought Possessed Fashion, and the horse banked $639,144, was stakes placed on the Grand Circuit, and raced in the Hambletonian eliminations.

“He was really good,” Smith said. “He just missed getting in the final. That’s when we decided to stay with trotters. We have seven trotters and each fall we look to buy one or two more.”

Sumatra has earned $905,788 and won the Grand Circuit’s Dexter Cup and Old Oaken Bucket as a 3-year-old. USTA/Ken Weingartner photo.

Other breadwinners Joe currently owns and still races are 6-year-old No Drama Please, who has earned $363,547; 10-year-old Fashion Creditor, who raced in the 2015 Hambletonian elims and has earned $843,861; and 11-year-old Sumatra, who has earned $905,788 and won the Grand Circuit’s Dexter Cup and Old Oaken Bucket as a 3-year-old. Fashion Creditor and Sumatra are going strong and will both qualify in the coming weeks.

Smith’s foray into harness racing started on the banks of Lake Erie. In his late teens and early 20s he and his Buffalo buddies would play golf and then head for Buffalo Raceway, where they could get in free for the last two races on Friday nights. From there they would hit the bars and go out carousing, doing “all the things you did at that age.” They also mused over buying a racehorse, but that never went anywhere.

Flash forward 20 years. A refined, professional Smith sat in his Philadelphia office when he was informed that a Mr. Bert Nash was on the phone. Joe took the call from his former New York golf buddy, who he hadn’t seen since the old days, and was asked to go in on a racehorse they were looking to buy.

Smith got in on it, but even with 18 investors there was not enough money to buy the horse in question, so they looked for another. The group, operating as Par-Birdie Stables, ended up purchasing Bay’s Fella, who won the 1990 Breeders Crown Open Pace at Pompano Park at 69-1 and earned just over $800,000.

“So, this isn’t a good horse we got, it’s a great horse,” Smith said. “That was my introduction to harness racing. I had completely lost track of those guys, but Bert remembered I was one of the guys who was going to buy a racehorse.”

While the others took their winnings from Bay’s Fella and invested in other horses, Smith laid low for a while until one day he met Fanning at the Hambletonian. Talk arose amongst the two and some track announcers about Bay’s Fella and Fanning wondered if Smith would be interested in going in on a horse with him.

The partnership got off to a rocky start.

“It was some terrible horse named Sir Walter Raleigh,” Smith said with a laugh. “We bought a few more horses and maybe four or five years later he bought this good pacer for me called Pacific Renegade. He did well. He was an open class pacer and did just terrific (earning more than $700,000).”

From there things took off. Smith estimates he has owned around 25 horses that he put under the care of Fanning, whose wife Moira is the Hambletonian Society’s chief operating officer. Joe and Tom have worked out a system on what they want to purchase.

“The game we play is to try and buy 2-year-old trotters,” Smith said. “We look for trotters that have done OK as 2-year-olds, or at least have shown some potential. I’m always one hundred percent owner; I don’t want to share ownership because the administration is just too annoying.”

As for how the two decide on what horse to pick, Smith feels their strengths mesh well together.

“I wouldn’t say we’d argue but I think we have very different perspectives,” he said. “Tom obviously knows the horses, he can do the background checks. Mine is more analytical. I try to look at the statistical part of it, try to figure out where they’ll fit, where they’ll be able to race, what their speed ratings are as compared to the better horses. I do more of the analytical part and Tom does more of the hands-on stuff.”

One thing is certain. When a horse is purchased, Smith has complete faith in his trainer to do right by them. He points to the fact that Fashion Creditor and Sumatra are still going strong as proof of Fanning’s skills.

“The way he’s been able to keep those horses going is impressive,” Smith said. “He always thinks about what’s best for the horses. The longevity of those horses is a tribute to what he can do as a trainer. It’s just remarkable. He doesn’t over-race them. He makes sure they get the best vet care. He just does a helluva job with them.”

It is that kind of partnership that has made being an owner such a joy for Smith. Well, having horses that win a lot of money also has something to do with it, but that is a by-product of Fanning’s work.

While it’s tough for Smith to see much racing in Florida, he does visit Fanning’s stable at Gaitway Farm when he and his wife are at their Stone Harbor, N.J. home.

“We love going there to see the horses and talk with Tom,” Smith said. “We really enjoy it.”

They also enjoy their nine grandchildren, and as Joe says, “We have no trouble keeping busy either in Florida or up in New Jersey.

“I was on about 17 boards since I retired, but I’m done with all that now. I’m just trying to figure out if I should go to the beach or check in with the horses.”

Smith says he sees no end in sight for his involvement with Standardbreds.

“As long as the sport stays financially healthy it’s all right with me,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoy the sport. It gives me a great satisfaction to know that I am working with a straight-forward, honest, ethical guy. That’s the way I want to do business.”

And as Smith said, it is a business to him. But one in which he enjoys the highs and takes the lows in stride.