A PROMOTER FOR THE AGES

In December, John Manzi announced that he would be retiring from the racing business. You may or may not know his name, but if you’re a longtime fan of harness racing, you’ve probably heard of one of Manzi’s crazy promotions. Story by Debbie Little

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then John Manzi’s office is worth almost a million of them.

Manzi has been at New York’s Monticello Raceway for nearly 42 years and when he moved into his current office 34 years ago, it looked very different.

“You could see the walls back then,” Manzi said with a laugh. “I don’t know what made me start hanging up photos on the walls, but I did. And when I look at them now, it reminds me of all the crazy things I’ve done over the years.”

Manzi, a U.S. Hall of Fame Communicator, conceived of The Elephantonian (for pacing pachyderms), the Cameltonian (for cantering camels) and the Mammaltonian, which pitted an elephant against a camel.

“Who knew an elephant would beat a camel?” Manzi said. “You didn’t see races like that anywhere else.”

Driver Joe Romano Jr. drove a camel, an elephant and even mud wrestled. Sort of.

Manzi asked Romano and driver Chet Williams to take part in a wrestling match against a couple of female mud wrestlers.

“[Manzi] conned us into that one. He said ‘Don’t worry, they’re only women, you’ll beat them’,” Romano said. “They made this big ring [in the winner’s circle] and the mud never showed up, so they got peat moss.”

Romano remembers the peat moss being uncomfortable but it was nothing compared to the defeat they suffered at the hands of the ladies.

“They beat us up bad,” Romano said.

Many of Manzi’s ideas relied on the horsemen, who were surprisingly supportive regardless of the request.

“We had an ugly driver competition and I actually got four or five guys to sign up for it,” Manzi said.

He also had a “Heavyweight Drivers” competition, which was easier to fill.

“They had to weigh over 200 lbs. and we weighed them on a scale in the winner’s circle before the race. They were all really good sports,” Manzi said.

One of Manzi’s go-to guys for many of his promotions was trainer Joe Minieri.

Minieri, the top trainer at Monticello for 11 years starting in the late ’80s, had a large stable and never had an issue putting horses into any of Manzi’s races although Manzi remembers having an issue with Minieri after one important race.

Minieri was one of three drivers asked to compete against the famous trained buffalo, Harvey Wallbanger Jr.

“I knew how competitive Joe was, so I told him ‘Whatever you do, Joe, don’t beat the buffalo. Don’t beat the buffalo.’ Don’t you know he beat the damn buffalo,” Manzi said.

Upon his return to the winner’s circle, Manzi took Minieri’s helmet and kicked it across the track.

“I was so mad I had to do something,” Manzi said.

Then Manzi composed himself and had a second dash, which the buffalo won.

Manzi’s done too many promotions to name a favorite, but he is especially proud of a few that got great press.

In 1981, Manzi invited NY Giants defensive back Beasley Reece, the self-proclaimed fastest man in the NFL, to race against winless pacer Super Kris.

This race went according to plan and Reece dealt the pacer yet another loss.

“The Beasley race got us a 40-second spot on HBO’s ‘Not-So-Great Moments in Sports’,” Manzi said. “That was a big thing back then. Tracks with a budget and publicity staff weren’t doing that.”

The Au Revoir, a $5,000 race for 14-year-old pacers, drew a full page story and photo on the front page of the sports section in the New York Times with a follow-up story the next day.

“Can you think of any other $5,000 race that could draw that kind of press?” Manzi said.

The Legal Eagle Pace, featuring drivers whose main profession was practicing law, garnered a front-page story with a photo in the prestigious New York Law Journal.

“That was a fun race to promote. Those lawyers talked a lot trash and it made for good press releases,” Manzi said.

In 1999, Manzi created the first of many races celebrating the diversity of Monticello’s drivers.

The Passover Pace (featuring Jewish drivers), Dr. Martin Luther King Pace (African-Americans) and Maple Leaf Pace (Canadians) are just a few of the races that were part of the Heritage Drivers Series.

In Manzi’s creative competitions, having a license was not always necessary.

He had several races pitting members of the media against each other. And even had a “Battle of the Hunting Clubs.” Competitors in these races raced in jog carts and didn’t use whips, but they all had to have training sessions to make sure they were safe.

“At least with writers you’d figure you’d get good press and we always did,” Manzi said.

Over the years, Manzi relied heavily on his local horsemen, but when he needed a big name to show up he could deliver.

In 2003, Manzi held “The Battle of the New York Legends” with Carmine Abbatiello, Coco Cormier, Butch Dokey, Buddy Gilmour, Del Insko, Eddie Lohmeyer, Kenny McNutt, Bill Popfinger, Frank Popfinger, Ben Steall and Benny Webster.

“I didn’t have a budget so I couldn’t pay these guys to come but they came anyway,” Manzi said.

“When I think about it, I did so many things over the years, no wonder they put me in the Hall of Fame,” Manzi added with a laugh.

Moira Fanning, publicity director for the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown, has known Manzi since 1987 and thinks even though some may view Manzi’s promotions as corny or hokey, he’s the meaning of a true publicist.

“I would put his impressions -- if you want to use the 21st century social-media term -- or his column inches or his radio exposure/TV exposure up against anyone. I’d dare say it’s 50 times the amount of tracks that are way bigger, way better staffed with a way bigger budget,” Fanning said.

“Monticello could have easily fallen off the National horizon. They’re not a major track with major purses or major stake races, but he has kept them in front of everybody and kept them alive in all the media and certainly in all the trade media almost single handedly,” she added.

When Manzi started in the business he didn’t like public speaking, but thankfully he overcame it and turned into one of the best promoters our sport has ever seen.

The photos may no longer be on the walls, but the accomplishments will always remain.

The self-deprecating Manzi likes to say: “I may be a has-been but at least I’m not a never was.”

If that’s what a has-been is then a lot of people would be lucky to be one.