Mal Burroughs built The Meadowlands and a Hall of Fame worthy career
by Jay Wolf
Malvern C. “Mal” Burroughs lived a great life and enjoyed thrills that fellow amateur drivers could only dream about. His hard work and dedication allowed the New Jersey native to hoist the sport’s biggest trophies and eventually get him the ultimate honor as one of the newest members of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
Burroughs grew up in New Jersey and at the age of 14 was forced to support his mother and siblings when his father died in a car accident in 1954.
In 1961 at the age of 21, Burroughs borrowed $8,000 to purchase a used dump truck and thus began his construction company, Burroughs and Son.
Burroughs and Son would steadily grow and later gain a solid reputation that propelled the company to work on projects such as the New Jersey Turnpike, the site work for the Meadowlands Sports Complex and Racetrack and the excavation of the World Trade Center site.
Burroughs’ passion for harness racing began in the 1970s due to his involvement with The Meadowlands and grew quickly when he became a horse owner.
Thanks to a suggestion from Hall of Fame driver/trainer Del Insko, Burroughs purchased the pacers Distant Thunder (career earnings of $162,289) and Satin Doll ($177,808).
Despite his early ownership success, Burroughs was looking for more, so he purchased Malabar Farms and started driving his horses in the Billings Amateur Series in the early 1980s.
His desire to become a better driver led to a partnership with future Hall of Fame trainer, Jimmy Takter.
“He was very dedicated and wanted to learn how to drive and wanted to get better,” Takter said. “If he did something wrong, I let him know about it.”
Takter and Burroughs combined to win the 1994 Hambletonian Oaks with Gleam.
Again, Burroughs looked for more, and this time he set his sights on much higher goals.
“I want the big one,” Burroughs reportedly said.
In his first Hambletonian, Burroughs drove Climbing Bud to a fifth-place finish in the 1995 Hambletonian elimination and a fifth-place finish in the final.
Burroughs would soon reach the mountain top with the homebred product of Supergill and Lady Love McBur.
Malabar Man was born on March 1, 1994, the first horse foaled on Burroughs’ new farm.
Before Burroughs ever had a chance to sit behind the colt, he found himself recovering from five bypass surgeries.
Burroughs would recover and Malabar Man’s freshman year would include victories in the Breeders Crown and Campbellsville Stakes and a runner-up finish in the Valley Victory – stamping them as leading contenders for the 1997 Hambletonian.
Malabar Man cruised into the Hambletonian on a six-race win streak, including the Hambletonian elimination.
In the $1 million final, Burroughs floated Malabar Man off the starting gate and took the lead in the opening quarter. Trond Smedshammer and Bowlin For Dollars took control before the half-mile station, putting Burroughs in the pocket.
Many thought the amateur made a mistake by allowing himself to be boxed in behind the tiring leader and with a handful of challengers advancing on the outside.
Burroughs never panicked and found enough of an opening along the pylons and skimmed his way into the lead, emerging victorious by a length over Takter trained stablemate Take Chances.
With the win, Burroughs became just the second amateur to capture Hambletonian glory – Harrison Hoyt won the 1948 edition with Demon Hanover.
Combined with his Hambletonian Oaks title in 1994, Burroughs was the only amateur to win two of the sport’s greatest trotting events.
“I will say with 99.9 per cent certainly that his milestone of being the only amateur to win the [Hambletonian] Oaks and Hambletonian will never be duplicated,” said Tom Charters, long-time president and CEO of the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown. “That is the dream of every amateur driver out there.
“You have to be lucky and you have to have a good horse. You have to check a lot of boxes to win a Hambletonian and he did it.”
Takter said, “I give Mal a lot of credit. He was under a lot of pressure and all the pressure came from me and himself. He handled the situation quite well.”
After their Hambletonian victory, Burroughs received offers from breeding interests oversees for the champion. The only invitation that Burroughs accepted was to race Malabar Man in the Italian classic, the Orsi Mangelli.
Burroughs and Malabar Man would later win the $594,000 Breeders Crown final.
Burroughs drove Malabar Man in every start during his 31-race career, except for the 1997 Bluegrass Stakes at The Red Mile.
“Mal had a bad back and the horse didn’t race well in his previous start [a second-place finish in the C. I. Smith Memorial at Freehold Raceway] and he wanted me to sit behind him to make sure everything was alright,” said Takter.
Malabar Man retired at the end of his 3-year-old season with a record of 26 wins and a bankroll of $2,143,903. He was named the 1997 Dan Patch “Horse of the Year.”
Malabar Man was elected into the Living Horse Hall of Fame in 2008.
“I stayed an amateur because I am an amateur,” said Burroughs in a 2007 interview with the United States Trotting Association. “Some guys have yachts and airplanes. I have trotters.”
He drove 109 winners in 564 career efforts – earning a .322 Universal Driver’s Rating.
His last win of his driving career came in 2005 with Malabar Memories, fittingly the son of Malabar Man and Gleam.
Burroughs was often described as a “self-made man,” who credited his learning about life by living it with the assistance of the Seton Hall (NJ) Seminary, the school which Burroughs would donate much of this driving earnings to in order to maintain his amateur status.
He was actively involved in leading organizations within the sport, including the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, the Hambletonian Society and the Harness Horse Youth Foundation.
Burroughs passed away on Sept. 20, 2024, just over two months after his election to the Hall of Fame under the Veterans designation was announced by the United States Harness Writers Association.
“He had good soft hands and never fought the horse,” Takter said. “He handled his horses very well… He made it look easy.”
