Tom and Scott Dillon enjoy logging time with their horses
by Murray Brown
In a recent post on Facebook, I wrote about a 2-year-old colt named Dirigo that has impressed many of the watchers early this season at Sunshine Meadows. The response to the post elicited responses more to the quality of the breeders/owners of the colt and the esteem in which they are held, rather than to harness racing, or to the horse itself. Was this unusual? Perhaps it was, but the response was more a reflection of the high respect in which the father-and-son team of Tom and Scott Dillon, who bred and still own the colt, are held by the harness racing community in general and in particular those that hail from the Pine Tree State, the name by which their home state of Maine is sometimes known.
When speaking of the Dillons and Maine, it’s appropriate that the term Pine Tree State is very fitting when it comes to describing them. In addition to their significant interest in harness racing, the means by which the Dillons make a living has been as loggers through the lumber industry, with pine trees being the most desirable tree which they harvest.
Recently, the younger Dillon, Scott, and I spoke, mostly about their horse enterprise, but also about logging in the great state of Maine.
How did you and your dad, Tom, become involved in harness racing?
“In terms of involvement in harness racing, Maine is similar to Ohio in that the backbone of the sport is found in our county fairs. From July through October, it seems that there is a fair taking place nearly every week. If you were paying attention, it was pretty difficult not to attend one or more of the fairs at which harness racing was held. Sometime in the early 1980s, we bought a $3,000 claimer named Special Cargo. Today, a $3,000 claimer might sound as though we were fishing at the bottom of the barrel, but back then in Maine it was a fairly decent horse, when the very best in the state had a tag of $10,000. Our first trainer was a man named Frank Hiscock. Frank worked in a paper mill and trained horses in whatever spare time he had.”
There has been a significant change in both the number and the quality of your horse holdings from those early years in the 1980s to the present.
“Indeed, there has. From that one claimer, we now own somewhere around 25 head today. They include 2- and 3-year-olds, broodmares, and yearlings. We have a 50-acre farm in Maine where we now presently have three in-foal broodmares and their yearlings. We also have the same number at Diamond Creek Farm. Most of our horses in training are with the Burke Brigade. The 2-year-olds are here at Sunshine Meadows and the 3-year-olds or older horses are distributed at venues wherever the Burke horses have a presence.
“I spend a good part of my winter here in Florida. It’s been a great pleasure having Ronnie locate some of his 2-year-olds here to Sunshine Meadows. Me and dad… greatly enjoy coming out to watch them get their early lessons. Of similar pleasure is the comradery enjoyed with others here at Sunshine Meadows. We also have one trotter in training with Mark Athearn in Cumberland, ME.”
How did you transition from owning that one claimer to being involved in breeding and raising your own?
“I guess a good part of it was becoming involved with great people. One of dad’s best friends ever was Jim Doherty. Jimmy was not only a great friend, but also a great horseman. We had some success with Jonas Czernyson and Donnie Richards. Early on, we bought a couple of weanlings that we sent to Jimmy Doherty. We did fairly well with them. One of them raced in the Little Brown Jug and then came back to race in Maine where he won more races than any other horse ever in our state.”
Tell us about some of your better horses.
“Our best horse, Hotshot Blue Chip, was also our craziest. He was a Revenue that Donnie Richards broke and trained for us. Donnie called him ‘a fast bastard, but crazy.’ He was goofy, but fast, from the very beginning. If he stayed trotting, he was very hard to beat. Donnie had him and Seaside to break. He gave them their early lessons. We then sent both to Jonas Czernyson to race on the Grand Circuit.
“Hotshot Blue Chip ended up earning $1,213,742 and raced in the Hambletonian for us. That experience in the Hambletonian remains my greatest disappointment in all my years in the sport. He was one of the post time favorites and made a break at the start. Of course, we were out of the race before it began. Seaside helped make amends by winning the filly division of the Kentucky Futurity.
“Two other good ones were the fillies Blue Diamond Eyes [$1,340,144] and Summer Charm [$423,238]. They each have 2-year-olds in training here with the Burke Brigade. The early reports on them are very good. But, if they aren’t good in January, the chances of them really becoming good aren’t probably that great. Dreaming of that great one to come is part of what makes this business so enjoyable.
“Through our partnership, dad had me focused on our acquiring good racehorses. He hates paying bills for horses that are not paying their way. He really appreciates having a good horse. That is what we strive for. We are looking for the very best, but I suppose we would be pleased with having good ones.”
What is it that you and your dad do that enable you to play at the highest reaches of harness racing?
“By profession, we are loggers. We buy timberland – anywhere from 30 acres to 10,000 acres in a tract. We buy the land, harvest the most desirable timber from it, and then resell it. We are one of the bigger logger outfits in the state. We sell our product throughout New England and some to Canada as well. It has been a lucrative and rewarding business for us.”
