Amateurs also enjoy the thrill of winning

There aren't many sports where amateurs can compete against the pros and win.

Monroe's Harry Landy in the winner's circle at Freehold Raceway. One exception is harness racing.

In 1997, amateur owner/driver Malvern Burroughs drove his horse Malabar Man to win the sport's most prestigious race, the Hambletonian. It's safe to say that Burroughs' victory is an inspiration to members of the American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC), an organization for amateur drivers.

Each year, the AHDC organizes two pacing series at Freehold Raceway, consisting of five legs on Saturday afternoons. Depending on the number of entries, a leg will split to two divisions. At the end of the series, the drivers move to the Meadowlands for a $5,000 final.

Among the competitors are several who live or work locally.

Neil Goldstein, 58, is an East Brunswick resident who works as a business turnaround/ crisis consultant. The Brooklyn native began going to racetracks while still a teenager, and fell in love with the sport. After moving to New Jersey in the 1980s, he discovered horse farms and the "backside" part of the business, the care and training of the horses.

Area residents with the American Harness Drivers Club include Monroe's Harry Landy (first row, at right), as well as Dr. Karyn Malinowski (second row, third from left) of the Rutgers Equine Science Center in New Brunswick. "Every Saturday I went to Showplace Farms in Millstone to learn the business. Each Saturday, I learned how to jog, train and care for racehorses, working with various trainers who loved free help," he recalled.

In 1992, Goldstein began his racing career at Cowtown, a small racetrack in Swedesboro that was open for just a few weeks each spring. The races generally had fewer than five horses, and each horse raced twice in the day, making it an excellent place to learn, he said. At Freehold Raceway in 1993, Goldstein learned that the AHDC had formed in New Jersey under the direction of Bernie Boland, Middletown. The club's mission was to have amateur racing among some rank amateurs and seasoned professionals, who were able to maintain an amateur status by not having taken money when driving horses for other people. Goldstein called Boland, and he bought Stranger in the Night from him for $700 to compete. Goldstein said that although he did not win a race for a while, "it was both fun and exciting beyond belief."

Over the years, he obtained a provisional "P" license that allowed him to drive at Freehold Raceway on any day but Saturday.

"Although by this time I had won some AHDC races, this was the big time, and winning meant driving a perfect race with a horse that needed to be much better than the competition, making up for driver inefficiency. I did not achieve a win, but only had about 15 competitive races," he said.

Goldstein said the thrill of winning includes ecstasy, pure and essential satisfaction, pride, and a bit of honor, because one is now included with the winning section.

"With most races having eight horses in it, and room at the front for only one horse, most of the time one is behind others. So when the finish line comes and there is no one in front of you, it is a wonderful feeling … nirvana," he said.

When asked about time commitment to AHDC, he said it is minor in relation to the true commitment of becoming a horse person who can handle a 1,200-pound animal who, at times, pulls very hard, may not go straight, and needs help guiding through traffic.

"The horse doesn't understand they need to have clearance for both them and the sulky the driver sits on; that part is the driver's job. As safety is the number-one objective among all members of the club, it is essential that each makes that commitment to becoming qualified in handling their horse," according to Goldstein.

This season, he started a horse called Sammy Jo, who in three races finished first, second and third. She has been sold to someone who wanted to race her in Maine. Goldstein now has Summer Life N, who finished third in her first start for him. He has qualified for the finals at the Meadowlands.

Dr. Karyn Malinowski is the director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center in New Brunswick. Competitive in both her professional life and her harness racing hobby, she holds the second-fastest time for a female driver at the Meadowlands, a record held by "Lady Jay," harness racing legend Jacquie Ingrassia. A lifelong horsewoman, Malinowski got her first taste of harness driving at a demo at the Horse Park of New Jersey, Upper Freehold, when she drove Niatross, considered by many to be the greatest Standardbred racehorse of modern times.

For Malinowski, racing is an adrenaline rush.

"There is no better feeling. It's unbelievable excitement," she said. "I love the sport, I love the horses."

This year she is competing with Jolee, with whom she won her division on May 9.

Harry Landy, 17, and Nick Surick, 21, see the AHDC as a steppingstone to professional careers.

Landy, a junior at Monroe Township High School, has wanted to be a professional driver since he was a young boy. His family owns Congress Hill Farm, Federal Road, and Landy is now managing his grandfather Eugene's racing stable. Harry recalled that when he was about 5 years old, his dad, Sam, sat him on his lap while he drove a horse around the track at the farm.

"It's like an addiction," said Harry, who began his career at age 11, racing trottingbreds, a pony-size cousin of the standardbred racehorse with their own racing circuit. He attended the Harness Racing Youth League summer camps, and at the age of 14 raced in the amateur division with standardbreds at the Goshen Historic Track in Goshen, N.Y. Last year he was old enough to compete in the AHDC.

Landy and Surick each won their divisions in the May 30 Leg V race at Freehold Raceway, the last races before the finals at the Meadowlands. Landy went on to drive M's EZ Pass to win the June 5 finals at the Meadowlands. He also captured the Billings Amateur Trot on June 6 in Freehold.

Landy said he may go to a community college to further his education while continuing to race and manage the stable. He said he takes business courses in high school, but running the stable feels more realistic and business-like than what he is doing in class. Landy is responsible for 21 horses, including broodmares. When asked what his friends think about his busy life, he said they find it "very cool."

Surick is a 2006 graduate of Freehold Township High School and has an uncle who got him involved with horses. In the past, he has worked with well-known trainer/driver Eric Abbatiello. Surick and his girlfriend, Anna Glide, have 18 horses in their training barn. Not yet a fully licensed driver, Surick considers the AHDC as a way to gain experience for his professional career.

Although he has played football, basketball, and other sports in the past, Surick said he thinks harness racing is different. While the racing is exciting, the biggest thrill for Surick is being in the winner's circle. This season he is driving a horse named El Nino Hanover, with whom he won his division on April 25, with Landy coming in second.