by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Harrisburg, PA — Chris Christie and Joe Malone on Tuesday won races for office in New Jersey. In the future, they might win horse races. Well, not the men, but harness racing horses named in their honor.

A yearling trotter named after Malone — who won re-election to the New Jersey State Assembly — sold for $90,000 on Tuesday in Harrisburg, Pa., at the Standardbred Horse Sale. The colt, bred by Perretti Farms and named Muscles Malone, is a son of 1998 Hambletonian winner Muscles Yankee and was bought by trainer Ray Schnittker, who won the Hambletonian in 2008 with Deweycheatumnhowe.

Perretti Farms is located in Cream Ridge, which is part of Malone’s District 30. Bob Marks, the marketing director at Perretti Farms, also named a pacer Beckretariat in honor of State Sen. Jennifer Beck and plans to name a horse after Christie, who won New Jersey’s race for governor over incumbent Jon S. Corzine.

“When Gov. Christie heard I named horses after Sen. Beck and Assemblyman Malone, he said: ‘You’ve got to name a horse after me,’” said Marks, who met Gov.-elect Christie at a fundraiser at Monmouth Park. “I said: ‘Absolutely. It’s a commitment, and we will do it.’ We will name as good a horse as we can after Gov. Christie.”

Malone, a retired school administrator, has served in the Assembly since 1993. Ronald Dancer, the son of legendary harness racing driver/trainer Stanley Dancer, also serves in the Assembly from Malone’s district.

“I’m a little bit embarrassed about having a horse named after me, but it is a great honor,” Malone said. “It’s something I’ll look back at with a smile and a great deal of pride. It’s just a great feeling.”

Malone credited Marks, Perretti Farms founder Bill Perretti and Perretti’s son Anthony with making him more aware of harness racing’s importance in New Jersey. The assemblyman’s district is comprised of portions of Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties including Allentown, Bordentown, Chesterfield, Cream Ridge and New Egypt.

“I always enjoy going out to the farm and I always enjoy talking to the Perrettis and the whole group,” Malone said recently. “It’s just been great.

“I’m very concerned that the state of New Jersey is turning a blind eye to a very critical part of what makes New Jersey a great place to live. Just the quality of life they bring to the area is significant. Unless you really peel the onion back, unless you really look at the operations of many of these farms and how much they mean, it’s staggering the influence and the impact.

“Any diminishing of their involvement on a statewide basis, and particularly in the central part of New Jersey, would be devastating. We just need to do more so that the horse racing industry as a whole is kept solid and viable and a major part of the economy of the state of New Jersey.”

As for Muscles Malone, Marks believes the colt has a bright future.

“I don’t know that he will be a Hambletonian winner, but he probably will be a nice horse,” Marks said. “He’s a good looking colt.”