Family is a big factor when it comes to participation in harness racing and owner/trainer Michael Annunziata certainly got involved due to his father Ettore Annunziata’s four-decade love affair with the sport. Since taking over the operation in 2020, Michael has expanded and even taken his shot at breeding via his Virginia stallion Doctor Butch. While you may not see Annunziata compete on the Grand Circuit in the near future, his horses can be found at Yonkers, Monticello, The Meadowlands and other tracks in the area. Annunziata took some time from his schedule to discuss his dad, how he got to this point, Doctor Butch and racing in general. Enjoy!  How did you get started in harness racing? I grew up on a farm; my dad [Ettore Annunziata] did it for about 45 years. When I was like 10 years old – my dad being an ‘off the boat from Italy’ type – put me to work. He had me shoveling shit, doing stalls and swimming the horses, because we primarily swim. I always loved horses but I didn’t get into the business side of it until much later in life. I was doing construction and night club promotion. I started to own a couple for fun and got more into it. My father was terminally ill and he needed help. I helped him more and more for about five years. Before you know it I’m running the business and I’m loving it. It is all I think about now. So you kind of knew you were going to take the reins from your dad at some point? Yeah. In the beginning it was a debate. I knew it was a good business to be in but I wasn’t sure it was going to be for me; I saw how much work my dad did, but once I got caught up in it, I love it so much I don’t take a day off. I wake up early and go to bed late at night. It is great to do something you love. How much did your dad love the sport? More than oxygen itself. When he was in a wheel chair and in bad shape I had to drive him down to the track. He would not miss a race. It was all he cared about except for his family. He loved being around horses. He loved solving the problems that other trainers couldn’t solve. He lived and breathed the sport. You’ve really expanded the stable from where your dad had it. Was that as much a youth thing and being able to handle more horses? My dad had a lot of horses when he was younger. As he got older he focused more on quality horses. At the end he had four to six and he was laser-focused on them. He had no drive to expand because he was happy with having one or two good ones that carried the business. For me, I’d rather go a little bigger and scale things up. Your dad had some nice horses over the years including Hop Sing and Keystone Endeavor but your focus has been more overnight campaigners. Is that by design? It’s more a finances thing. He had some big high-end horses but he also created some. I think he claimed Keystone Endeavor for $40,000 and he was beating the Opens every week. I’m not as good as my dad but I tried to learn what I could. To invest that kind of money into the higher caliber horses is a little difficult. Your barn is heavy in New Zealand and Australian breds. Why? Because my dad had great success with them; horses like Miss Galvinator and Our Galvinator. Our program seems to really work with Australian and New Zealand breds. I’m not sure why. Maybe it is because they wait a little longer on them. My thing has been claiming older classy horses. I get them off the track and put them in the pool. They last longer, are healthier and need less vet work. You are stabled in Mahopac and don’t have a training track. How do you get work into your horses? We swim every day. We go down to Yonkers or Monticello every once in a while to jog or train. If one of the horses needs a lot of track time I usually send it to Veronica Merton. She’s like a sister to me and really helps out and supports me. All of your horses are owned by Annunziata Rev Trust, which is what I’m assuming is “the family”, and trained by you. Have you ever trained for an outside owner? It is the family Trust. [Dad] put that together way back in 2015 and I just felt like it should stay that way and continue on the legacy. I had one owner, a really nice guy, but I’m very picky with who I train horses for. I’m used to doing it myself and not having anyone looking over my back. This way I can do what I want and make all the decisions. It is easier on me that way. How many horses do you have in the barn? I have 13 now. I’ve been buying a bunch of broodmares for Doctor Butch. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? Meadowlands. It is a beautiful track and they take care of it. You always have a shot to win no matter what post you have. There is so much more opportunity there and you can’t get a bad driver there no matter what. It is such a deep driver colony. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? The Meadowlands Pace. I’ve just seen some great races over the years and that is my favorite track. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? I just got a puppy and I hang out with him. I don’t do anything else anymore [laughing]. I like music and live concerts. Right now all I’m focused on is breeding and I’m trying to learn it. It is a whole different world. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don’t know? I used to be a touring DJ. I DJ’d all over the country. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Passion. What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten or given about harness racing? My father always said to watch the horse and pay attention to every little thing and the horse will tell you everything. The more he would look at them the more he would find out; whether sitting in the stall or out in the paddock. The more you watch the more you pick up. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter What was your best moment in harness racing? Two or three weeks ago I won three of four races in Virginia. It was cool to go to a new track and do well. Which is the best horse you’ve ever owned or trained? It has to be Doctor Butch. He’s definitely the best horse I’ve ever touched. He’s not at the top of his game right now but he is still damn good. You recently decided to stand Doctor Butch in Virginia. Was that always the plan for him? Originally, no, because I didn’t know much about breeding. I just figured it made sense to send him to someone else. As I was racing him I must’ve had 100 people say I should breed him. So I started to research his pedigree and saw it was a wise decision. After researching pretty much every program in the country I came up with Virginia. Can you talk a bit about why someone should breed in Virginia? They have this slot machine money that is tied into the breeding program. That is just one of the reasons. They have a huge amount of cash that they have to disperse to Virginia-sired horses. You get $1,500 if your foal goes 2:11 in a qualifier. They have a bonus where you get 70% of the money your horses earns anywhere in the country [there is a cap] matched during their 2- and 3-year-old campaigns. An important reason for me is that they have 10 colts and 13 mares in their program. I checked out Ohio and Indiana, and I had deals in both states, but they had over 3,000 foals. The odds of winning money in Virginia seemed better, especially with none of the big stables there.  You have been a supporter of amateur races. Do you feel they are important? I think they are the most fun races to watch. Everyone is trying so hard. No one is playing games. These guys will park their mother out. It is really exciting to watch and they have decent horses in there. It is something different to watch, so I’ve been supporting it, especially the GSY [now Meadowlands Amateur Driving Club]. It is cool to watch some of the kids come up, like Jonathan Ahle, he’s done well, and Dakota Jackson, I think he’s going to be a good driver. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I would give all of the six through eight or six through 10 horses a stipend. In the GSY you get $500 just for showing up. We are going for so much purse money, those losing horses are providing a service and they are always from those small stables that are barely making it. That would help keep racing going for a much longer time. How do you view the future of harness racing? I’m skeptical because no one seems to be doing anything to get to the younger crowd. Everyone is stuck in their ways and they are not embracing technology. We have a great sport and the way sports betting is going – through the roof – we should be trying to get part of that. We should reach out to the younger demographic. In Australia and New Zealand there are flocks of kids, 20-year-olds, all wanting to be harness drivers, owners, trainers. Here we have none. There is no young blood. Time for the stretch drive... Best Horse you ever saw: Somebeachsomewhere. Best Driver Ever: I’ll go with my father because he was always right, Walter Case Jr. Lasix – Yes or No: Yes. Favorite TV Show: Sopranos. Trotters or Pacers: Pacers since that’s all I have in my barn. I want a trotter but they are impossible to get; everybody overpays for them.