A false mustache got Jeffrey Bell into Roosevelt Raceway
by Murray Brown
There are not too many subjects about whom I have written more than one column. The only two that come to mind are Sam Bowie and Myron Bell. I’ve written two columns on Bell, but I’ve yet to do the first one on his younger brother Jeffrey, who has been involved in the sport for almost as long as Myron. I believe it’s time for me to remedy this exclusion.
Jeffrey had just gone to press with his directory of the harness horses in training at Sunshine Meadows when I reached out to him.
It’s been a few years since you published the directory of horses in training at Sunshine Meadows. Why the absence and more importantly how come, the return of a well-used asset to those who are stabled here and to the horsepeople who come out to watch the horses? Of most interest is the 2-year-old class going through their lessons on their way to becoming racehorses.
“The absence of the directory was due to a combination of factors including serious issues encountered by me and the declining horse population here at Sunshine Meadows. It was most felt when Tony Alagna switched venues and moved his training operation from here to New Jersey. That in itself resulted in a loss of around a hundred head from the directory. In the last couple of seasons there has been somewhat of a renaissance of sorts. The Burke operation moved in last year. This year they’ve added to their numbers. Linda Toscano set up camp. Hunter Oakes and Chuck Connor are here now. Peter and Melanie Wrenn are back, as is Paul Kelley. Most of the old regulars including the Antonaccis, Fred Grant, Joe Pavia, Travis Alexander, and Gino Toscani continue to train here. I had also been asked by numerous horsemen to bring the book back. I felt the need for the directory was there and I acted upon it.
“The one area it lacks is in numbers for identification of the horses while they are out on the track. If you were to ask why, the answer is that the horsemen just didn’t want them. They felt that they were willing to cooperate, but that cooperation seemingly ended with placing saddle pads on their horses. The general feeling was that it was an extra unnecessary job for their grooms. The feedback I received, said that they would be willing to answer any question on who their horses were, but that saddle pads were just one unneeded extra piece of equipment. I didn’t necessarily agree, but the horses are theirs and they are the ones in charge.”
You told me a rather humorous story of the first time you went to the races at Roosevelt Raceway at the age of 14. That was 64 years ago.
“I was 14. My older brother Myron had told me about this great place he had discovered called Roosevelt Raceway. It was a fun place where you could bet on horses. I enjoyed gambling then as I still do now. Many, many years later, I still bet on horses, but no longer professionally. There was a problem with going to Roosevelt though, a big one. I was 14. In order to get into Roosevelt, you had to be 18. We solved the dilemma by my pasting a false mustache on my upper lip. I doubt that it fooled anyone, but it got the job done.
“One memory from that first night remains with me. There was a horse named Gamecock driven by John Simpson that was a heavy favorite. I bet on him. He won. I was hooked. I became a regular at Roosevelt. When they moved to Yonkers, I did the same. That was the beginning of my becoming a harness racing junkie.”
You transitioned from being a gambler to also being involved in the ownership of harness horses.
“I never stopped betting on the horses. I still do so today, but today more for recreation than as a means to earning a living. I thought it would be fun to own them and bet on my own horses. I began with overnight horses and within a short period of time I discovered stakes racing and the dream of developing yearlings into stakes horses. I had become interested in breeding. Myron and I thought it would be fun to buy a yearling to hopefully race in the stakes. There was a problem in that the size of our bankroll was limited. We wanted a New York eligible, but we felt we couldn’t afford a Most Happy Fella who was even then the King of New York.
“So, in the fall of 1976, we went to the Old Glory Sale at Yonkers and bought a Fulla Napoleon colt named Kindergarten for $15,500. He wasn’t a champion, but he was better than just decent. He ended up earning somewhere just shy of $150,000, which was pretty good for two kids who had to scrounge up the money to buy and pay the training bills on him.”
Since then, you have owned many horses. Do you have a favorite?
“In 1985, I went to the Harrisburg Sale with my trainer Doug Miller. We bought a Tyler B filly named Jolibea Hanover for $30,000. I didn’t quite have the $30,000 at the time, but I would have it within a few weeks. A guy by the name of Murray Brown extended me the credit for 30 days. She turned out to be pretty good. She took a record of 1:55 at The Red Mile as a 2-year-old. That was pretty darn fast for a 2-year-old in 1986. At 3, she gave me the thrill of a lifetime in winning the Lady Maud at my home track at Roosevelt Raceway. She ended up earning over $200,000.”
It’s been going on half a century since Jolibea Hanover. Since then, you’ve owned many horses. Some have been good, others not so good. What are your horse holdings like these days?
“I own pieces of three babies in training with Herb Holland and Joe Bongiorno. Needless to say, I’m still chasing the dream. I want them all to do well, but I feel especially positive with those with Joe. He’s a throwback to the days when I first began in the game, when drivers still trained and trainers still drove their own horses.”
