David Glasser was never the type of child that wanted to spend summers at camp. He much preferred the racetrack. Several decades later, he still enjoys a day or night at the races – and often from one of the best seats in the house.
Glasser, who has been driving harness racing horses since the age of 14, on Thursday will take a seat in the sulky behind his trotter Celebrity Stimulus as the C.K.G. Billings Amateur Driving Series kicks off its 36th season at Yonkers Raceway.
Last November, Glasser and ‘Stim’ won the Billings Eastern Regional final and a week later finished second to Hannah Miller in the Gold Cup championship.
“I hadn’t even expected to be in the Gold Cup at all,” the 50-year-old Glasser said. “So I was really happy with that.”
Glasser was drawn to harness racing by his parents, Arthur and Evelyn, who began buying racehorses in 1971 and five years later had a horse farm with a half-mile training track in upstate New York, not far from Goshen. Glasser, who grew up in North Jersey, enjoyed nothing more than spending time at the farm and following the family’s horses to races in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
He started driving horses in 1980 at the age of 14. In 1984, he won 12 of 58 starts, primarily with his family’s horses at Monticello Raceway. There is a YouTube video of Glasser winning a race with pacer Happy Honnika at Monticello that year. Happy Honnika was named by Glasser’s mom, who spelled Chanukah phonetically to avoid any confusion about the pronunciation. Happy Honnika was stabled in a stall next to White Christmas.
Glasser drove less frequently over the ensuing 30 years, but never lost his passion for the sport. In 2014, he returned to the sulky more often, usually in amateur races. Last year, he won eight of 37 starts. He has 32 victories lifetime.
“When the love of this game gets deep into your veins, even if it goes dormant for a while, it never leaves,” Glasser said. “I’d taken a long time off, but then I met (amateur driver) Dave Yarock and he helped me get back into it. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to afford some horses, like Stim, and we just had such a great year last year.”
Glasser bought Celebrity Stimulus in 2015 and the trotter has provided Glasser with his two top moments so far in his driving career. The first came last May when Glasser got his first-ever win at the Meadowlands. The victory came on Mother’s Day, with his mom in attendance. Incidentally, Glasser won his next two drives at the Big M later that month, both with trotter Feisty Love, to finish May a perfect three-for-three at the mile-sized oval.
“I dreamed my whole life of winning a race at the Meadowlands,” Glasser said. “Then I won two more in a row. I was on fire. That was a hell of a month.
“I finally became comfortable driving the mile track. Having grown up learning how to drive at (half-mile) Monticello, I didn’t have my bearings; I didn’t know instinctively where I was on the track. Imagine if someone gave you a suit of clothes to wear that was four sizes too big. That’s what it was like. Then it just clicked for me in May. I’m much more at ease and comfortable on that size track.”
Six months after his memorable Mother’s Day, Glasser and Celebrity Stimulus won the Billings East Regional final at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono by a nose over the Joe Lee-driven Karets.
“That was the biggest win of my driving career,” Glasser said. “We were able to go down the road and hang on by the smallest of noses. The winner’s circle photo has me smiling in it with arguably the biggest smile that’s ever been captured on film for me.”
Now Glasser will look to build on last year’s success. And Celebrity Stimulus, who won seven of 38 starts last year and earned $44,990 in purses, will play a big part.
“He may not be a (1:) 52 trotter, but that horse leaves everything on the track every week,” Glasser said of the seven-year-old gelding, who has won 19 of 134 career races and $178,528. “He tries. I’ve gotten to learn how to drive him. I’ve learned that with my size (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) and his size not to move too much in the stretch. He’ll go his fastest if I just sit still and let him do his thing.”
Celebrity Stimulus is trained at different times of the year by either John Butenschoen or Homer Hochstetler.
“I’m so lucky and honoured that these guys would train a horse for me,” Glasser said.
Glasser, who is a financial advisor, is nicknamed ‘Poppa’ on the Billings circuit. The nickname, given by Billings publicist John Manzi and sometimes seen as ‘Proud Poppa,’ comes from Glasser’s devotion to his family, particularly his two daughters, Rachael and Alex.
“They’re what matters to me the most and what I’m most proud of,” Glasser said. “They are awesome. That’s how I became Poppa.”
On Thursday at Yonkers, Glasser and Celebrity Stimulus will start from Post 1 in a six-horse field. The race also includes Miller, who will drive Winwood Scout from Post 6.
“There’s some pressure coming into this season,” Glasser said. “It’s a long year and I try to be patient. We take care of him very well. He’s got such a good heart. When I get him out there and we have a good chance to win, he takes care of me. So I do everything I can to take care of him. He’s like family.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.