Is it possible to peak professionally at 73 years old? For Dennis Laterza, who started training horses more than 50 years ago, the statistics say yes. In 2024, the Queens native easily eclipsed his career best in stable earnings and missed his best yearly win total by one victory. A staple at Yonkers Raceway and Roosevelt Raceway before then, Laterza has seen a lot during his time in the sport and sat down with us to discuss his path, how family has kept him in the industry, his busy work schedule and much more. On a personal note, Dennis was my trainer when I owned horses and always did the right thing by me. He helped me learn to drive, get my “P” license, and was always encouraging along the way. Dennis literally made owning a horse to drive in the amateur races possible for me. I didn’t ask him about it because I knew he would deflect and not take the credit. He deserves it! Enjoy this week’s On The Backstretch Q&A.   How did you get started in harness racing? My father owned horses. I worked in construction and in the winter time when I was laid off, I would go down to the track and hang out at the barn where his trainer was stabled. That was in 1970. Then I started to own horses. I think in 1972 I owned my first horse with my dad. We started to do well . . . and I got more and more involved. In 1980 I got my trainers license and started out with my dad’s horses and was successful, so I stopped working in construction and started with the horses at Roosevelt Raceway full-time. USTA stats only go back to 1991 and show you with 1,446 career training wins (as of 1/26/25). How many do you think you had before that? I have no idea. Maybe 30 to 40 a year. I didn’t have a lot of horses back then, maybe 10-12 in my barn. As someone who has been involved in the sport for six decades, has it changed for the better? It has definitely changed. It is more of a dollars and sense business. Back then it was more enjoyable. People enjoyed it and made money in it as a hobby. I don’t think it has changed for the better, no. Some 50 years into your career as a trainer, have things gone the way you expected when you started? You have to change with the times. The money got better since the casinos opened. Who would’ve thought that would’ve happened before 9-11. That kept me in it longer. I never expected to be in the sport as long as I have been. Did you expect to be a Grand Circuit trainer or were you content as an “overnight” guy? When I first got in it I never thought I’d be a Grand Circuit guy. I started part time and I was never involved with younger horses because I didn’t have the knowledge to break a horse and make them. So I got involved with buying and claiming horses. As I was going on I thought I was better off claiming and buying because the horses were already made and you knew what you were getting. There was less risk than getting involved with younger horses and coming up with a lot of duds. You have trained a few stakes horses along the way over the years, right? I had an owner from Alabama [Roy Dobbins] that I got involved with in 1985. He was breaking the horses and sending them up to me already trained down. He came up with a couple of nice horses and that’s how I came up with a couple of them. I never started breaking horses until maybe the late 1990s. I was always stabled at a racetrack and you can’t really break horses there and do it right. In 2024 at age 73, statistically you had your best year with stable earnings over $1.3 million. What changed to get you to that level? A lot more horses went through my barn. I bought a lot more horses because I had a new owner for the last three years. He wanted to claim horses and my sons were claiming horses together. The horses we were claiming were winning and staying in the same classes, so there was a lot of turnover. Is it fair to ask if retirement is in your future? I haven’t given it much thought because my son [Dennis A. Laterza] is there. If he wasn’t I might’ve thought about retiring to a warmer climate. I really enjoy working with my sons. I really don’t want to leave them there alone. Your son Dennis works in the barn daily with you. What does your son Joseph do? He’s an owner and helps out in the barn, though not as much as Dennis does. How many horses do you have in your barn? 24. You focus on Yonkers Raceway but what has been your favorite track over the years? Why? I liked Roosevelt a lot. Yonkers was always the speed track and you had to have the right horse. It was always tough to race there. In the 90s I raced at The Meadowlands and it was good back then. Those are the only three tracks I really raced at steadily. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? Geez, I’ve never really had time to get any hobbies [laughing]. I work morning until night. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? It used to be enjoyable. Now it’s a job. What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten or given about harness racing? Don’t fall in love with the horses. What was your best moment in harness racing? When my son trained Hill I Am and he won the New Jersey Sire Stakes final at The Meadowlands [2013]. He was owned by my Alabama owned [Roy] Dobbins. That was a big moment and an enjoyable one. Which is the best horse you’ve ever trained? A horse that I did really good with was Sunrise Stevie. He took a world record for aged geldings at The Meadowlands in the 1990s. Another good one I had that turned out to be a little disappointing was Cumin’s Promise. You are one of the last people to stable at Yonkers Raceway. Are you surprised that you’ve lasted there so long? I am but I’ve never really given it much thought. I was at Roosevelt when they kept threatening to close and finally did. I was at The Meadowlands and Garden State when they threatened to close the barn area. So I try not to give it too much thought about how much time we have left at Yonkers. I don’t worry about it. You actually commute from Long Island every day. After 40 years, don’t the early mornings and late nights with an hour commute each way wear you down? No, I just do it out of habit. I leave my house between 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning. I get to the track between 6:30 and 7:00, and I stay there all day because I live too far away to go home. When we get done racing at 9:00 or 10:00, I leave and get home between 10:30 and 11:00 at night. Then it starts all over again the next day. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Is there anything you wish you would’ve accomplished in the sport that you didn’t? Nothing comes to my mind because I never really wanted to be a Grand Circuit guy. We raised three children and I never wanted to be away from home. Plus I was stabled at Yonkers and Roosevelt where I didn’t have a good setup to have those types of horses. We mentioned that your son Dennis followed you into the industry. Were you originally happy that he chose this career? Not really, but he loves horses. He’s been coming down with me since he was 10. He would always come down on Saturdays. He started out wanting to drive and was doing it a bit at Yonkers until it closed down [due to casino construction in 2005]. So he went up to Monticello and got his license, but he realized he couldn’t compete with those top-notch drivers, so he decided he’d rather own horses and use catch-drivers. I’m glad he’s happy and enjoying it, so now I’m happy he chose it. You’ve worked with a lot of people who have been in the amateur races. Why did you give your time to them? They became friends. They were coming to the barn and wanted to be helpful, so I helped get them horses or race them. Over the years some people have complained about the track at Yonkers. How have you been able to survive there? Now they dig the track up during the day soft so it is very good and at night they make it harder and tighter for speed. I think maybe my horses are just used to the surface because I train there. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I don’t like the speed of the game. I wish they’d slow it down and make it more kind on the horses. The speed these horses make can really tear them up. I’d like the surface of the track to be softer with less concentration on speed. How do you view the future of harness racing? I see there being fewer and fewer tracks and the industry getting smaller because the casinos are buying the racetracks up. We don’t get the same amount of public interested in the racing anymore, so that also leads it to getting smaller. Time for the stretch drive… Best Horse you ever saw:  During my time I’ve seen many good ones come and go. Skip By Night is one I used to like, and Harold Story’s mare Scenic Regal. Those come to my mind because I was able to watch them race a lot versus some horse that would come to the track for one stakes race. Lasix – Yes or No: Yes, I think it has to be legal. Favorite TV Show: I don’t get much television time. I listen to radio about two to three hours a day and only get time to watch maybe 30 minutes of television. Trotters or Pacers:  I like pacers; they are more reliable. With trotters, a lot of them make mistakes or are high strung. I’ve had a lot of both breeds but pacers are easier.