by Murray Brown

In no particular order, Jimmy Bernstein wanted to be a horse trainer of both thoroughbred and standardbred horses; involved in medicine; a musician and an entrepreneur. In some fashion, now at the age of 78, he has achieved all of those goals.

Let’s begin with harness racing. How did it start?

“In the late ‘60s a man by the name of Fred Schwartz was an owner of the great Romeo Hanover. I was friends with his son. We’d go to Roosevelt and Yonkers to watch him train and race. I became smitten with the sport as I had also previously been with the thoroughbreds. My parents spent many a summer attending the races at Saratoga. I, of course, went along with them.

“I maintained my interest throughout college and the start of medical school. I wasn’t all that happy in grad school. One day, I got in my car and drove to New Egypt, NJ, to the stable of Stanley Franklin Dancer. I approached Mr. Dancer and told him I wanted to learn about horses and harness racing. He hired me as a groom. I was to earn $80 a week. ‘My goodness’ I thought to myself. Not only was I going to learn about harness racing, but I was going to get paid for doing it.

“I not only was going to work for one of the greatest operations in the game, but I was also going to learn from some of the greatest trainers and grooms in the sport. Two that stood out were the inimitable Dick Baker and Jean Guy Lamarre. There’s nothing like starting at the top.

“I’ll just ramble from there. After some time, I met a young man named David Tovim who offered me a job as his second trainer. I went to work for him and then went out on my own. I started my own small stable at Monticello where I met Ralph Swalsky who is still a dear friend today.  I had some, but nowhere near overwhelming success.

“In the interim I met my lovely wife Lisa, a sister of fellow trainer Mike Taub.

“I had a good filly by the name of Joyce Collins who I one day turned my back on. Bad move. She nailed me hard in my back. I was hurt pretty bad. It resulted in heavy internal bleeding and the loss of my spleen.”

Did that lead to a pause in your harness career?

“I suppose it did. My uncle was a successful entrepreneur. He had founded a company called New Hermes. I went to work for him. I started in sales and rose through the ranks. I owned some equity in it. It went public in 1989. I made some money. I was now reasonably well off.”

What happened then?

“In 1995, I yearned to start in medicine again. I studied for eight months and then took the MCATs. I did pretty well in them. I was accepted into New York Medical School. My lifelong ambition was about to be fulfilled. I was about to become a doctor — or not!

“Then fate cast a nasty blow. I became very ill. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I was fortunate enough to be seen by Dr. Keith Black in Los Angeles.

“The good news was that he was fairly certain that the tumor was benign. The bad news was that it needed to be removed immediately. He operated the next week. As Dr. Black warned, even though the surgery was successful, there were side effects from it. I couldn’t read and my memory was to be forever affected by it. That of course ended my medical career.”

What did you do then? 

“I got back into harness racing. I had met George Teague and we developed a relationship. He is the very best friend I’ve ever had in and out of harness racing. I owned (together with George and Clyde Francis) and trained a filly by the name of Mozzi Hanover. She had a lot of speed, but was half crazy, maybe even a bit more than half. She eventually broke a bone. I called George asking what to do. ‘Just send her down here and we’ll breed her to Mr Wiggles.’ We did just that and we named her first foal Wiggle It Jiggleit. We all know how great he was. He was just fantastic, but I always wonder how really good he might have been if not for the soundness issues that he faced that ended his career.”

In addition to the success you’ve had through Wiggle It Jiggleit, you’ve had comparable success in the thoroughbred game.

“Wiggle It Jiggleit was doing well; I put together a few equity packages involving him which we sold. One of the purchasers was a woman from Michigan with who I became friends. She was active in the thoroughbred game as well. ‘Jimmy’ she told me ‘I’ve got this thoroughbred colt that I think is going to be great. You’ve got to buy into him. Better yet, I’ll just give you a piece of my interest. She did just that. The colt’s name is Mage. He won the 2023 Kentucky Derby. I never dreamed that I would ever even attend the Kentucky Derby let alone that I would own part of a colt that won it. Can you imagine, one person lucky enough to own parts of both a Little Brown Jug and a Kentucky Derby winner?”

I’ve been told that in addition to your shown expertise as a horseman and as an entrepreneur, your true greatest talent might be as a musician.

“I started playing the piano as an 11-year-old in New York City. I suppose I was decent at it. I still play it a lot today. The so-called musical experts said that I was better as a percussionist, most specifically on the kettle drums. I guess I was fairly good. I attended Juilliard and I have played at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.”

With such a sterling background in music, why wasn’t it your life’s calling?

“Put simply, I suppose it was probably because I loved the pacers and trotters more.”

What is it that most occupies you today?

“Retirement is certainly not for me. I am now a licensed thoroughbred trainer with one horse which I also own in my charge.

“I am also back to trying to become a successful entrepreneur. I’ve trademarked a new App on social media. I’m hoping that it becomes successful.”