Hambletonian Day struck the right note thanks to a ‘Winning Key’

by Debbie Little

Owner Patty Key of Winning Key Farm knows what it’s like to be in the winner’s circle on Hambletonian Day, having been there in 1993 when American Winner won the big dance.

This year, Key was back, but it was different, because she was there as the title sponsor of the Winning Key Farm Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks.

HRU spoke with Key a couple of weeks before, during, and a few days after the big day.

Key’s initial journey to that winner’s circle didn’t start in the typical way.

THE BLIND DATE

Key grew up in the small town of Nanticoke, PA, not far from Wilkes-Barre and Pocono Downs.

“My dad had friends who would go there to bet on the horse races through the years,” Key said. “I never really went there because, you know, life gets in the way. You go to college, you have your own social life going on, and then I met Bob.”

At that time, her future husband, Bob Key, was just getting started in harness racing.

“I was working for a financial company, and we were set up on a blind date,” Patty said. “And he flew in from the Pittsburgh area in his own plane, and he wanted to meet me. He said he had horses racing at Pocono Downs in stake races, and I said, ‘Oh, okay.’ And he called me and talked to me first, and we got to know each other a little bit before I actually met him… I think he had 25 per cent of four horses with Cedar Farm, and he just loved talking about it. He thought it was a great investment, and you know I learned through him what these horses were about. And he said, ‘Well, you’ve got to meet them.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’

“So, I went to the backside, and I remember the first horse I met was Keystone Easter, and I laughed, and she was just really, really friendly, and she just wanted to be petted, and I just fell in love that moment, and I never looked back.”

SCHOOLS IN

Patty learned about harness racing from the ground up from Bob.

“I didn’t even know how to bet on a horse, but he made me into a track bum just by going up and doing all his bets,” she said with a laugh. “It was constant, trust me.

“Every venture that Bob got into, he studied it 24/7. He lived it… he was an amazing, highly intelligent man, and everything that he taught me, and I learned from and observed, just kept me mentally checked in.

“I am so grateful because it was more like a liberal arts education. He even got me to get my pilot’s license. I got my pilot’s license at 38, and I did it because I thought it would be silly if something happened to him and I couldn’t land the plane, so I was going to do a powder puff course, just learn how to take the plane up and land it. And then I liked it, and I stuck with it, and I got my instrument rating. And this way, if anything happened to him, we could still fly anywhere we wanted to.

“He was like a mentor to me. I learned so much more than I ever did when I graduated from Penn State… It was a great education for me to be with this man, and I think with my personality, being that I’m very even keeled, we just clicked together for all those years. We were together 39 years when he passed.”

CARRYING ON THE LEGACY

Bob died in 2021 at the age of 87, leaving Patty to continue their story.

“After he was gone, you know, you go through a down period, because of the loss and your grieving, and then I just decided I’m just going to continue this and hopefully everything I do honors that man because without that man, I wouldn’t be here today,” she said. “I’d probably be in another life somewhere else doing something, but I wouldn’t be where I am today. He left me the company. He left me the horses. So, it’s been, like I said, this array of different types of hats I wear.”

Bob and his homebred, American Winner, were both inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Immortals in Goshen, NY in 2025.

It was at that Hall of Fame ceremony that Hambletonian Society chief operating officer Gunjan Patel got a title sponsor idea for Hambletonian 101.

“I was listening to her speech, and at one point, you know she said moving forward for the farm her vision is a lot different than her husband’s,” Patel said. “He had so many horses, and so he went with quantity, and she is doing quality… That’s where the idea came from. I was like, she has a new vision, and I think I would love to spotlight that and see if we could work together.”

After following up with Patty and her team — Debbie Beattie, Eric Crocker, and Samantha Werksman Crocker — in Lexington, Patel made her pitch earlier this year.

“Well, [Patel] called here and she said she’d like to come in and give a proposal to me about the Hambletonian,” Patty said. “I went ‘Okay.’ And she came in and she had a nice portfolio and she just set everything up. We went over everything, and you know, what’s going on in my head is, ‘How much?’ because that’s what Bob always taught all of us. And she gave me the amount, and I was like, ‘Okay, why don’t you take a tour of the plant?’ And I had Eric and Sam and Debbie in here, and I said, ‘We’ll discuss it.’ She walked out, and I said, ‘Oh, hell yeah, we’re doing it. This is great publicity for the farm… everything that she offered me, I couldn’t buy this kind of publicity, so it was a no-brainer.

“Since Bob’s passing, I wanted to do more for harness racing and the donations I make I do in his honor because I wouldn’t be here without him.

“I was very happy when they approached me, and I was very honored because I never thought I’d be back at the Hambletonian because we’ve come close many times, but I haven’t been back there in years.”

THE BIG DAY

Although it was great being the title sponsor, it was also a little out of Patty’s comfort zone.

“I’m not used to being in the spotlight,” Patty said. “Bob always was the main attraction, and I would just sit and listen and learn through all those years. I’ve never done anything like this before, so it’s been a learning period and it’s also been a lot of fun.

“We were very well taken care of; The Meadowlands was superb, their entire operation. We never wanted for anything. They were just right on top of everything.

“The Hambletonian Society thought of everything, and they’ve been doing this for a number of years, but I still was very impressed with how everything went so smoothly.”

Patty even got to hold the bowl when Hambletonian champ Apex took his first victory drink.

“I didn’t know I was going to do that,” she said with a laugh. “That bowl’s heavy. I was surprised how heavy it was, and then they poured water in. I’m like, ‘Oh please don’t drop this bowl.’

“And then when the horse starts to lap it up and his nose is like pounding into it because he wants it all at one time I was just like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to drop this bowl.’ That was my biggest fear because I didn’t want to get that on film. I’ve never been on the outside looking in like that and it was a nice experience.”

Being back at The Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day, she said she couldn’t help but reminisce a little.

“I just feel so much joy for all the connections with Apex,” Patty said. “I imagine they’ll be reliving that for a very long time.

“The whole entire day took me back to 1993 and you know, after [American Winner] won, and the feeling of joy and happiness and all the work you think about that goes into that, the stress that leads up to it and the relief once that horse does what he does. I will never forget this day for as long as I live. It was a wonderful, wonderful moment for me.”

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

Following Bob’s passing, Patty downsized to a much more manageable number of horses to keep with that vision she shared on Hall of Fame Day to be a nice, boutique farm.

“Bob had over 86 broodmares when he passed… and I think I got down to 30,” she said. “I kept my top 30.

“We only breed 15, maybe 17 broodmares a year. I give them on and off each year because it’s my philosophy that I like to give those mares a rest. I feel that they’ve got a good seven years, maybe eight, and breeding them back-to-back is not my ideal. I’d like to preserve what I have for a longer period of time. And I think a foal takes so much out of a broodmare that I would prefer to do it this way.

“I think I’ve told you this before, when you get those books with all the yearlings listed and you know there are thousands of them and not everybody can get through that entire book and see every horse… but now that I’m down to maybe 15 horses I sell a year, at least I can get people to look at it, top trainers, top owners, and also everybody in between. There are bargains in there, but they know that I’m serious.

“After all the years we kept and raced everything, I don’t think people were aware that we’re actually giving them up no matter what they sell for. I just want the respectability back for the family lines that I’ve invested in and the stallion shares and the breedings that I’ve invested in. So, I want them to take a look and say, ‘Hey, you know, she’s got something here.’

“I’m not keeping what I breed, and to me that was worth every penny of sponsoring the Hambletonian.”