Barry Guariglia is a proud harness racing ‘lifer’

by Murray Brown

Barry Guariglia was at The Meadowlands on opening night, Sept. 1, 1976. He was one of the 42,133 fans in attendance on that special evening. He has remained a harness racing fan ever since. It was another 11 years before he attended his first Harrisburg sale, made his first yearling purchase, and bought the Colt Fortysix colt Dakota Hanover for the price of $17,000.

In the almost 40-year span since that first sale, there has never been a time when he did not own an interest in at least one and usually somewhere around a handful of horses. He is part of that relatively small number of owner/fans who we refer to as “lifers” — those who share an affinity for harness racing so great that it has become a significant part of their life.

You entered the business first as a fan, next you were a yearling buyer, and in the process, you skipped the racehorse stage through which most begin. How did that come about?

“That is very true. But there was an 11-year gap between my first going to The Meadowlands and when I bought my first horse. In the interim, I had become, for lack of a better term, a student of the game. I had continued going to the track. I had followed the various horse journals. I had become interested in the bloodlines of the horses. Perhaps, just as importantly I had evolved to a position where I was able to afford being able to purchase a horse. Likely I had wanted to own horses almost from the very beginning. Being able to afford them might have been a different thing.

“As my interest in breeding grew, I determined that I really didn’t have a whole lot of interest in owning overnighters or claimers. Although through my years in the game, I’ve claimed a few, usually based on their pedigree with a view to having a future broodmare.

“I had followed and read about the greats such as Bret Hanover and Albatross. They had started from the yearling stage.

“I decided that if I wanted to own horses, I wanted to reach for the stars. That is not to say that there isn’t a place, perhaps even the best situation for a beginner to get into the game, than for him to own a racehorse, perhaps a claimer. But I had decided to skip that entry level.

“Looking back, that might not have been the wisest way to get into the sport, but it has turned out pretty well. That first horse, Dakota Hanover, wasn’t the champion that I had dreamed about, but he turned out to be quite decent. He earned $141,965 when that was more like they say, better than an empty stall, and expenses were far less than they are today.”

As a financial planner for Morgan Stanley, you are far from being a full-time owner of harness horses.

“Yes. I began as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch in 1983 right out of college. I remained with them until the financial crisis of 2008 when they were taken over by Bank of America. I then moved to Morgan Stanley where I’ve been since then.

“I like to think that my background in the financial industry has helped me in the horse business.

I try not to go into things in a helter-skelter fashion. Most of my decisions in both venues are made through careful planning. Perhaps just as importantly, the people I deal with in each pursuit are of prime importance.

“In the financial industry, I’ve only been involved with two firms. For the most part, the same applies to the horse business. I suppose I’ve chosen my trainers wisely. I began with Hall of Famer Gene Riegle. After Gene’s passing, I transitioned to Hall of Famer Jimmy Takter. When Jimmy retired, my horses went to his daughter Nancy, with who I have been ever since.

“With regard to my partners in the horse business, they have included the Takters and two other ‘lifers,’ Herb Liverman and Marvin Katz, in addition to several other clients of the Takter family.”

What is the makeup of your horse portfolio today?

“I own parts of about a half dozen racehorses together with a similar number of broodmares. I also own some equity in Karl which I’ve owned since he was bought as a yearling and throughout his racing career at 2 and 3. He has recently completed his first season in the stud at Southwind Farms. I’ve been told that he performed quite successfully in settling his mares from a full book.”

Speaking of Southwind and New Jersey, what is the future for Karl, since Southwind has announced that they will shortly cease operations?

“That’s still open. But the powers that be are working on it. If an appropriate deal can be reached, ideally, we’d like for him to remain in New Jersey. But that would depend on the State of New Jersey, The Meadowlands, and the SBOANJ to come up with an acceptable situation.”

Let’s switch gears a little and speak of some of the best horses with which you’ve been associated.

“The three best undoubtedly are Manchego, Stienam’s Place and the aforementioned Karl… I’ve been blessed to own all three.

“The first was Stienam’s Place. We bought her as a yearling in 1994 for $62,000. She was a fantastic race filly earning $1,406,306. She has perhaps exceeded her racing exploits in the breeding rankings being the dam of the multiple Hall of Fame filly Put On A Show [$2,406,628] and in establishing her own branch of a prolific pacing family.

“Next was Manchego. We bought her as a yearling in 2015 for $120,000. I remember her as a yearling. She was drop dead gorgeous. Once she began racing, if anything, she exceeded our expectations, maybe even far exceeded them. She earned $3,144,777 on the racetrack. She is now a broodmare. Her first foal, the filly La Mancha just recently won a stakes race at The Red Mile in 1.52.3. She is not quite Manchego caliber yet. She likely will never be. But she seems to be pretty talented. Her next foal is a yearling colt by Walner named Jarlsberg who is a day one yearling at the upcoming Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. She has a weanling filly, also by Walner and is in foal to Karl.

“The third member of that triumvirate is Karl. We bought him as a yearling in 2022 for $130,000. He earned $2,046,066 at 2 and 3. His wins included the Hambletonian. He just finished his first full season at stud where he served a full book of 136 mares. The word I’ve received is that he performed quite admirably and successfully got a good number of his mares in foal.”

What does the future hold for you?

“In the immediate future, I’m looking forward to attending the Grand Circuit races at The Red Mile. We intend to be there for the week of the sales and the races. Of course, we will be going to the sales where we will likely be both a spectator and a participant. I generally tag along with Nancy Takter as she makes her rounds evaluating the yearlings on offer. That’s something I’ve done ever since we had our horses with the Riegles. I don’t know how much I contribute, but I enjoy doing it and I’ve certainly learned a lot in the process.”

NOTE: This has nothing to do with Barry Guariglia or the article above, but I thought I’d make mention of what I view as potentially a very significant race coming up today (Sept. 6).

I often think of myself as sometimes being jaded by races involving our best horses. I think because I’ve seen so many thousands of them, I often am.

Today’s 10th race at Pocono Downs is one that I would go out of my way to make sure that I saw. I’m suggesting that if you are an avid harness racing fan, that you do the same.

It’s the $300,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes final for 2-year-old pacing colts. Sure, it’s the richest race for freshman colt pacers thus far in 2026. But there will be richer and perhaps more prestigious races as the season progresses. What makes this race so interesting?

It brings together two of the most exciting pacing colts I’ve seen this year and perhaps ever. The two undefeated colts are Shalom Hanover, who drew the rail and Starstruck Dreamer who drew the dreaded 8-hole.

What makes this race so interesting for me?

It deals with the similarity in the pedigrees of both colts.

Through a lifetime of watching horses of various pedigrees, I’ve never before seen two top colts in the same year carrying such similar bloodlines.

Shalom Hanover and Starstruck Dreamer are each sired by a son of Somebeachsomewhere: Shalom Hanover is by Papi Rob Hanover and Starstruck Dreamer is by Captaintreacherous.

The similarities only begin there.

It’s in their maternal lines where the similarities, to my knowledge, are without precedent.

The Western Hanover mare Sammy’s Magic Girl is the dam of Shalom Hanover. Sammy’s Magic Girl is also the dam of Scarlett Hanover, who happens to be the dam of Starstruck Dreamer.

In human terms, Sammy’s Magic Girl is the mother of Shalom Hanover and the grandmother of Starstruck Dreamer. Shalom Hanover is Starstruck Dreamer’s uncle. Somebeachsomewhere is the paternal grandfather of both of them.

If you’ve seen something similar ever happening, I’d like to know.