What kind of car do you drive? I have an 11-year-old Cadillac with only 32,000 miles on it. Where I live and where I work, Key Bellevilles, is only two miles apart. So I only drive about four miles a day. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? My grandmother on my father's side was German. She made the best Apple Strudel you ever had. On my mother’s side is Slovak and they would make Pierogis. I was very lucky to have grandmothers on both sides and get to taste such good foods. What is your favorite all-time track to visit? It is a real toss-up. It has to be The Meadowlands, but I've had some very interesting visits to other tracks. One was Edmonton (Northlands Park) when I had Amneris in the Breeders Crown. They really treated us nicely there. It was a great race. The people were very enthusiastic. Another one was in Munich. I had a horse called BJ's Super Star and we had a great time over there. Do you still go to the track? No. I wish I could but it is a little difficult for me to get around. I watch the races constantly. I record races and re-watch them. My secretary Debbie does a great job getting me programs and helping me keep track of everything. What is your favorite big event in racing? Hambletonian. I won it with American Winner in 1993. Joe DeFrank and his wife made it a great experience for me. When you win that one you know you've done something. That has to be the top event. You have a tendency to enter horses in all stakes they are eligible to whether they will be longshots or not. Is there a reason why? A person in my position, you can't stay in this business unless you are in stakes races. I have to take my shots and go for the money. I can't make it on just racing for the overnight purses. How often is racing on your mind? About four hours a day. I have 123 horses in training and racing. I spend a lot of time talking to my trainers and now my son (Robert Key) is involved and I spend a lot of time talking to him about it. What is your favorite thing to do outside of racing? I have a lot of fun running my manufacturing company. The other thing is spending time with my family, especially my grandson Ollie. It is nice to watch a young child learn and grow up. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Football – Pittsburgh Steelers. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I don't bet on racing. I haven't bet a race in the last 10 years. First of all, I feel like I jinx myself and secondly, I put enough money in with breeding, raising and staking them that the betting doesn't help me that much. I also don’t want any games played with the horses. I want the drivers to go out and win every race for me that they can. I never want there to be any holding back of one of my horses for a race later on. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Competition. How did you get started in the sport? I'm an attorney and one of the things I have to do is keep good relationships with doctors so they will testify on my cases. I had a friend of mine named Dr. Soweida. We had lunch and he kept talking to me about getting involved in horse racing. I didn't have much choice but to say yes. I have another doctor friend as well involved, there were three of us in total. The first trainer I got involved with was Nick Salvi, about 1981. He was a really nice person to deal with and he gave me a great insight into the sport. In fact, he recommended that me and my doctor partners get Billy Haughton to be a trainer for us. Then I got to know Billy Haughton and that is a story in itself. I always said I didn't want to be involved in racing unless I worked with him. He and I got along really well and had some good horses together. He was a perfect gentleman and we had a lot of fun together. I had him on an airplane, I'm a pilot and I was flying, because sometimes I would take him places. By the time I would taxi to the runway to take off he was always asleep and when I landed he was up and ready to go to the races. What is the best advice you've ever gotten about harness racing? Billy Haughton told me to breed the best with the best. It worked out. We had this mare named BJ's Pleasure. Even though she got hurt in her first race as a 2-year-old, she came back to win $300,000 as a 3-year-old and as a result, we bred her to the top stallion at the time that I thought would work with her, Super Bowl. She's been a foundation mare. Her first three foals were Super Pleasure ($827K), BJ’s Mac ($376K) and American Winner ($1.3 million). She had 20 foals and was proof that breeding the best with the best works. Which is the best horse you've ever owned? American Winner, no question about it. He had determination and conformation. Also, if you take his mares, they really have done well. Whether it is Muscle Hill or whoever, if you trace the line back there is often an American Winner in the family. In some of these top races you'll see that four out of 10 horses will have some relationship to either American Winner or BJ's Pleasure. Which horse is/was your all-time favorite? Amneris. Right at the beginning I got lucky. She won the Breeders Crown as a 2-year-old and was second in the 3-year-old Crown. She broke a world-record. She was perfect to watch and go. I had her with (Jan) Nordin as a 2-year-old and he didn't take much to pacers and then I put her with Billy Haughton as a 3-year-old and she really did well. Ernie Gaskin was the assistant trainer and he really did a great job with her. His girlfriend at the time was her groom and she did a good job as well. Just really great people. Is there a race you haven't won but are still holding out hope to win? The Hambletonian Oaks. I have been second and third. I have a filly this year, Tricky Sister. Of course the hometown race I've never won is the Adios. I've had a couple of horses in it but I haven’t been successful winning it. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Tricky Sister finished seventh in the Oaks.] How many horses do you own? About 400 horses. People talk about how hard it is to make money in the sport as an owner. Is the sport more enjoyment or investment for you? It's not about the money. I don't think this is the kind of business you get into thinking you’re going to make a big profit. You have to hope to break even and have a lot of fun while being competitive. I certainly don't want to be a loser. I race to win and it is a business, but my manufacturing business is a lot easier to make money in. You're also a breeder. How many mares do you have? About 150. Have you increased or decreased that number as you've gotten older? We keep the mares after they are done racing if we can’t find a good home for them, so we end up with a number of mares that are retired. We probably have about 20 of those types who don’t breed. Which do you enjoy more, racing or breeding? I enjoy both. If you breed a horse and it does very well, even if I don't own it, I'm very happy for them. Of course, when I breed it and own it and they win, it is an extra-special treat. You are now 87 years old. What motivates you in the sport? Competition. I want these horses to win and I want to see Rob and everyone else in the winner's circle. What do you see happening to the horse operations in a decade or more when you are gone? Will family take over? My wife (Patty Key) is much younger than I am. She runs the breeding end of it and she wants to continue that. Rob, my son, likes the racing end. I think that combination will work out very well. Rob is knowledgeable on the racing end and he has a trainer’s license. He has some good experience. I've seen your name mentioned at times as a possible Hall of Famer. What would that honor mean to you? It would be a great honor to be elected, but it is up to the committee to decide who is worthy. I'd certainly appreciate it but it is out of my control. You have a reputation for changing trainers often. Any thoughts? I don't change them unless a horse is not doing well with them. Billy Haughton used to tell me this, I give a horse three chances with three trainers. If one trainer can't get along with a horse, maybe another one will. After it goes through three trainers, if they don't make it, I give up. I don't want to have a good horse not make it because the trainer isn't doing right or the groom isn't working with them or because of the training style. But I won't take a horse away from a trainer if they are doing well. I'm always looking for young trainers who want to win; guys who are willing to put the work in. If you could choose any horse in history to own, which horse would it be and why? It would be Mack Lobell. He is a brother to my mare BJ's Pleasure. I was second bidder on Mack Lobell. Three of the top trainers, and I won't name them, said he was too small and that I shouldn't bid any more on him. You have to give credit to Chuck Sylvester. He did a hell of a job with him and that horse went on to win all over the world. Chuck made the best of that horse and he's a great trainer. Perhaps the trainers I had at that time wouldn't have done as well. I'm sure they wouldn’t have because Chuck did as good as job as you could've done. How has COVID-19 affected your life and business? My manufacturing hasn't been affected because we are an essential business. My employees came in and we worked without a problem, but it did affect the racing. It affected the schedule of the horses but more importantly, the business. You can't go on forever without fans. You need people in the stands, because having people at the track helps sway the politicians to work with us. The more fans you have, the more power you have with the politicians. We need that. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I'm very upset about the way the sport is going with staking. I don't agree with eligibility based on earnings. We need the eliminations or divisions. A horse can break down or get sick. Like American Winner wasn't right as a 2-year-ld but came on as a 3-year-old. He wouldn't have a chance the way some of these races are written now. [Making stakes conditions based solely on earnings] is the worst thing we could do and it is showing in the nominations. Divisions come in handy because if you don’t have the best horse he can at least get lucky and draw into an easy division and make enough money to pay for the whole year. The top-money condition also can eliminate the best horse because they could be coming on late in the season. I don't care about getting my money back if my horse doesn't make the cut for a race. I take the chance up front with my money that I'm going to have a good 2-year-old or 3-year-old. At least before I would have a chance to get into a race and make some money. Now I don't even get a chance to race sometimes and it just keeps getting worse. I can't see the future of the sport improving unless they change that. I'm not an old guy thinking the old ways are best. It just happens that it was the best way. People like me want to stake horses to races and get in. I might have the longshot in some races, but at least I'm in them. How do you view the future of harness racing? I think we could use someone in charge like in Football or Baseball. At one time we had like 1,800 tracks in the 1890’s and you can see where we are at now. I think we can keep this sport going and maybe increase it if we have the right people overseeing it. Time for the stretch drive: Best Horse You Ever Saw: Mack Lobell. Best Driver Ever: Back when I started it was Billy Haughton. He really got along with the horses and could make them go. In the next era, I think it is a toss-up between John Campbell and Ron Pierce. Pierce did a very good job for me with American Winner and some other horses. I think the two drivers are pretty equal. Right now, there is no question about it, far and above is Yannick Gingras. He races for me whenever he can. He’ll give a 30-1 shot a chance. One time Billy Haughton told me that a driver should not be able to see a tote board. I think a lot of these drivers drive according to the tote board. If they have a 20-1 shot they don’t even try. Especially with young horses. They see one bad race and don’t try. With Yannick, he tries. He gives them a shot. I might make a lot of enemies by saying it, but the hell with it. I hate to lose. If a driver comes first-over, tries, and we don't make it, that is fine. But to sit back and do nothing doesn’t work, I don't like that, I'm competitive. Lasix – Yes or No?: To me that is something that is up to the trainers. I don't know enough to know better, but it seems to do good for the horse and as long as it does, I'd say yes. Favorite TV Show?: Masterpiece Theatre. Trotters or Pacers?: Trotters. I've had some successful pacers, but I think it takes a lot more effort and breeding to get a good trotter.