Trenton, NJ — Gaining a 50th career victory after 13-plus years of driving may not seem like much to some folks. But for Matt Zuccarello, the timing could not have been better.
“The goal has always been to get to 100 when I started this,” the longtime amateur driver said. “So, 50 was a big one. I wanted to get my 50th before my 50th birthday. I was able to do that just a week before my 50th so that worked out.”
The milestone came on March 12 at Rosecroft Raceway, one of four tracks where Zuccarello is a regular. Now living in the city of Vineland in deep south New Jersey, the few tracks that don’t require a three-plus hour drive are Rosecroft, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Yonkers and The Meadowlands.
“I’ve definitely slowed down,” Zuccarello said. “I don’t want to drive my car three hours to drive a 50- to 60-to-1 shot. I’m past the luster of just driving.
“It’s still fun, it’s not that I would not do it, but it does cost time or money just to get up there, and you’re doing it as an amateur. My friends still find it hard to believe. They’re like, ‘You drive three or four hours just to drive someone else’s horse and not make any money?’ I say, ‘Yeah, that’s my special hobby.’”
Zuccarello began to dabble at age 36. Growing up in New Hyde Park, N.Y., he and his dad went to races at the old Roosevelt Raceway and were there the night it closed its doors. That sparked Zuccarello to attend the USTA Driving School in Delaware, Ohio, in 2008.
He got his full license in October 2014 but has had little desire to become a professional since he has been busy as a fulltime salesman for a kitchen and bathroom countertop company the past 15 years.
“That’s what pays the bills,” Zuccarello said. “I just turned 50 last month, I’m not doing it consistently enough. I did it for two years where on weekends I would jog multiple horses. It’s just so competitive. It’s like baseball where you’re going from Single A ball to the majors. That’s a huge jump. Going from racing against the amateurs to racing against pros, it’s a tough thing.”
Having a job and a son makes it even tougher.
“I usually drive at night,” he said. “During the day it’s tough. Nights are OK and on the weekends but I also have my son every other weekend.”
He actually turned down a drive at Monticello due to it being nearly four hours from home in order to attend one of his son’s baseball games.
“Of course, the horse won, and the game got rained out,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve given up a few races and taken myself off a few.”
Zuccarello is doing enough to keep himself happy.
He has averaged 90 starts over the previous four seasons, with a career-high 96 in 2021. That same year he had a career-high in wins (16) and purses ($134,101). So far this season he has hit the board in four of 17 starts with one victory and $9,415 in earnings.
For his career, he has driven horses to $553,025 in purses in 790 starts and said it would “be pretty cool” if he could crack $1 million in career earnings.
Getting drives, however, is not automatic.
“I’ve been looking for more horses for myself,” he said. “It’s so competitive, especially in the northeast on the amateur circuit. It seems like the same five or six guys get a lot of the power. I’m just trying to find out what’s going on and trying to get more stock.”
Despite his increase in drives since 2021, he has slowed down on looking for work through social media and messaging people.
“Now that I’ve been doing this for 13 years, I get a lot if a guy’s backed up on a horse or two. I get a lot of my drives with people just knowing I’m around. I called the judges (last) Tuesday and picked up two drives for The Meadowlands (last Friday) for two trainers I never drove for.
“I’ve been going out to Rosecroft a lot to pick up some drives. By just being down there and the driver doesn’t show up I can get some. A trainer who I’m friends with introduced me to a guy and I’ve been driving for him three of the last four weeks. That’s when I got my 50th win, through basically word of mouth.”
Zuccarello has been around, having raced at 27 tracks and winning at 12 of them. He may head out to Ohio this year and would like to race at one of the Kentucky tracks someday.
“I usually do Canada twice a year,” he said. “I haven’t done Massachusetts or Maine in a while. It’s just trying to get as many tracks under my belt as possible.”
Despite the fact he is no longer over-extending himself just for the sake of driving, it is still in Zuccarello’s blood.
“It’s fun and I’m definitely still motivated and excited to drive,” he said. “If I ever lost that excitement, I’d probably hang it up. But I still have a lot of years racing left, God willing. And I’d like to get 100 wins.
“It’s still something I love to do, to get those wins and opportunities. There’s no other feeling like it. To be able to race against pros and race in this industry and do something I grew up watching, there’s no way to describe how you can have that type of passion to live out a childhood dream; of racing in the industry with horses and other amateurs and even pros and just competing and trying to win.”