Tag: Rich Fisher

No matter how much a horse struggles, it’s usually advisable for owners to listen to their trainers. Especially when their last name is Takter. After purchasing Caviart Scotland, then named Darlin’s Rembo, at the 2021 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, owners Buck and Judy Chaffee of Caviart Farms were dismayed at how he was coming along — or in this case, not coming along — last season as a 2-year-old. But trainer Nancy Takter saw something in the horse, as did her dad, Hall of Famer Jimmy Takter, who also worked with the colt at times. Their faith was rewarded at Plainridge Park in Massachusetts on May 4, when Caviart Scotland not only earned his first career win in the second division of the Paul Revere Pace for 3-year-olds but did it in record-setting fashion.

Few people are completely content with their lot in life. They are constantly looking for higher-profile jobs, better pay, more recognition. The list goes on. Nick Graffam is one of the few. At age 32, the lifelong Maine resident is perfectly content driving three New England tracks; Plainridge Park in Massachusetts as well as First Tracks Cumberland and Bangor Raceway in his home state. Those may not be the epicenters of the sport, but along with great lobster, Graffam is enjoying success, traveling reasonable distances, working with his family and making a good living. 

When you talk about a guy who puts in a good day’s work, as the saying goes, driver Jim Marohn Jr. may be the classic example when it comes to harness racing. Racing in mainly overnights, Marohn has won titles at numerous tracks around the country, most recently at Freehold last season. He has garnered 5,522 career victories and his horses have collected $46.1 million in purses.

Trace Tetrick tried not to make a big deal out of it. In December, just for the heck of it, he checked out his win total to see how close he was to 7,000. He needed about 150, so once the season started he forgot about it, until the April 8 pre-race show at Harrah’s Hoosier Park reminded everyone that Trace was seven wins away. There was no turning back; he knew the countdown each time he climbed into the sulky.

Matt Rosiek discovered his version of the “good book” at an early age. It wasn’t the Bible, but it did help show him the way. “I’ve studied the trainer’s book since I was eight years old,” Rosiek said. “My grandfather gave it to me, and I don’t know how many times I’ve read that from front to back.” The more times he read it, the more he wanted to be a Standardbred trainer. Matt’s dream came true at age 29 when he got his training license earlier this year, followed by his first training win March 22 with Treasurethosechips at Buffalo Raceway.

Trae Porter has an interesting take on his breakout season of 2022. “It was very eventful,” he said, “and I’d say there were definitely a lot of miles put on my truck.” But they were productive miles, and he didn’t mind refilling the gas tank or putting wear on the tires for what he got in return.

Jack Pelling is in no great rush to be a top harness racing driver, but is certainly happy with where his deliberate pace has brought him at this point. Pelling, in just his fourth year of driving, has opened 2023 with wins in nearly 26 percent of his 62 starts at Freehold Raceway. Only Jim Marohn Jr. is higher, at 30 percent, and no other driver with 19 or more starts is better than 16.1 percent. His strong start follows a career year in which he won 111 races and earned more than $1.23 million in purses.

After spending time doing other jobs before his career in racing, Luke Ebersole might appreciate driving Standardbreds a little more than others out there. He almost lives by the saying that “A bad day at the track is better than a good day at work.”

Tyler Miller grew up watching two of harness racing’s best go about their business on a daily basis. The son of driver Andy Miller and trainer Julie Miller, Tyler studied and learned from them, and many others. But it wasn’t until he graduated from Rider University in 2020 and became a fulltime driver, that Miller began getting his real education.

The one thing an owner or trainer probably won’t have to worry about when Hunter Myers is driving their horse, is having a cocky guy who thinks he knows too much. “If you think you learned it all then, I’m sorry…that’s no good,” figures the son of trainer Mike Myers.