Originally from New Jersey
Currently lives in Houston, Texas
Has been a lawyer for 37 years
Has a wife, Leslie, and three daughters: Jena, Taylor, and Tori.
When did you first become interested in horse racing?
When I was 8 years old my father took me down to the Jersey Shore to supposedly get apples and pumpkins for Halloween, and we took a small detour to my father's favorite trotter track, Freehold, which is still in existence. It's got a little half-mile track there for the trotters, so I saw my first horse race live then, and I've been hooked since. Every Saturday or Sunday they'd have racing from Aqueduct on television, and my brothers and I and my father would all watch it together. I've loved horse racing for a long time.
Are you big into handicapping?
Well I'd like to think I'm good, but really I stink at it. We would go as a family sometimes and my mother would only bet to show, and she'd only bet on grey horses or horses whose name she liked, and I'd be there with the racing form studying and circling, and she always wound up doing better than me betting for show on a grey horse. The only thing I could say I'm good at is naming horses. On all four of those horses I'm involved with at Hidden Brook -- Street Heat, Atlantic Sunrise, Neilos, and All That Brass-- I won the little lottery on the names I picked out. That's with some help from my wife and daughters, of course.
How did you discover Hidden Brook?
John Adger is from Houston and he's been helpful in giving me some suggestions. Since they allow casinos in Louisiana and not Texas, I started buying a couple of Louisiana-bred horses and I wanted to try and take a step up from that, but I'm still learning. I don't mind going to a sale and spending twenty to thirty grand on a yearling, but I was nervous going to Kentucky myself, and John Adger said, why don't you call these guys over at Hidden Brook, because they put together deals and you can get a small piece or a large piece, and then you'll learn how they pick out the higher dollar horses. I deal mostly with Dan Hall and I just think he's wonderful. It's been a real good experience for me.
What has been your own personal most exciting moment in racing so far?
Well, I never won a stakes race. I guess it goes way back to the first winner I ever had, an old Texas-bred named Churchill. It was very exciting. I think it was a $10,000 claiming race, but there's something special about winning a race that it almost doesn't matter what kind of race. Going to the winner's circle with your friends and family is a lot of fun.
What advice would you give someone who was interested in joining the horse business?
You've heard the joke, I can guarantee: "How do you make a small fortune in horse racing? Just start with a large one." But really, what I would tell somebody is, start with someone like Hidden Brook that knows what they're doing and instead of trying to do 100% on your own, give them some money and watch how it happens, watch how you have to interact with the trainers, get a look at what the deals are, so you get a full understanding. My advice would be to go in slow, dip your foot in the water a little bit, let somebody else make the decision that have more experience than you and learn from that.
What is your favorite racetrack to visit and why?
It's still Monmouth Racetrack. My family used to go down there and take a picnic. Racing used to be more of a family sport, I guess it still is in some places, but there's still some nostalgia there for me and it's in the Jersey shore, and I just love the grandstand there, I love the paddock, and I just have a great attraction to it.
What's your favorite horse of all time?
I got to go with Zenyatta. She was just amazing to me. I still have visions of those races when she would come from last to first. She was on of the most exciting to me, and she's so beautiful. Remember the way she would dance when she walked out on the track? That was something special.
What are some of your favorite movies?
Well, you know, I am Italian, so "The Godfather" has got to be there. "The Godfather" is my favorite, probably 1 and 2, and I love "On the Waterfront." Those are probably some of my favorites.
