Anyone who follows him on social media knows that Jack Rice is a colorful personality in harness racing. He admits that those that know him don't take everything he says seriously and they get the most out of his online persona. For instance, despite what it says on Facebook, he didn't attend Yale University. Rice is passionate about many things, among them food, harness racing, his wife Maria and son Justin. The 54-year-old has been in the sport since the mid-1980s and he took some time from his admittedly easy schedule to discuss his journey in the sport.   How did you get started in harness racing? My dad owned horses. He was a chef in the [Catskills] mountains and he had horses at Monticello Raceway. Since I didn't want to work with my dad as a chef because it was too hot in the kitchen, so he would say 'go to Monticello and work with the horses.' He knew I loved them and that I was a young degenerate. I would go to Monticello in the morning and I would jog and learned how to train. It kept snowballing from there. Let's clear something up, Pathway says you were born in Kingston, NY and another story had Ellenville, NY. Which is it? I was born in Kingston but I graduated high school and lived my childhood in Ellenville.  Was Harness Racing always in your plans? I was going to go to college but I wasn't a big book guy. I went through school without reading a book and I still had good grades. I did my homework while I was in class and I always had a program in my back pocket. Who most helped you start your career? Andy Toscano, Ron Coyne, Luc Ouellette and Ed Aronowitz. Luc, when he left for Yonkers, he left me his stable and his owners. He had confidence in me and left me the horses to train.  While you've been involved in the sport since the 1980s, your participation has been in concert with your wife Maria for some time. Who does what with Team Rice? Maria does most of the work. It is about a 90/10 split. I do most of the track work. She jogs one or two a day, especially in the summertime. She does everything in the barn. We have a couple of people who work for us but she does almost everything. I do the book work, the dropping in [entering horses], the warming up and the jogging/training. She texts me when I'm allowed to show up at the barn (laughing). She's an early riser and is usually eating breakfast at 4:45 am. I show up at the barn about 7:30 and then we start jogging.  I believe I read on Facebook that you have never gotten into an argument with Maria. Would she concur? [Talking to Maria] Do you concur that we've never been in an argument? [Maria responding] 'We've never been in an argument.'  That's impressive for a couple that has been together about 20 years, no? This is what I tell everyone, and I get a little choked up when I say it because I have a sick little boy [Justin, from a former marriage]. Maria's had him with me since he was 4 years old and he moved out when he was 22. If anyone can change your 20-year-old's diaper when it isn't their son and take care of him like he is their own, how can you ever be mad at that person? She raised him. He's a quad in a wheelchair. He doesn't speak. She took him to every doctor's appointment and done everything for him. When he was in the hospital she slept there. How do you get mad at a person who can do that? Because she didn't put something somewhere and I didn't like it? She knows what bothers me and I know what bothers her, so we just don't do those things to each other.  She's very emotional but she has a good attitude and she's a worker. If I ever got into a fight with her and she wanted a divorce I'd have to hire three people to replace her. I have life insurance and she doesn't, but I told her I'm the one who needs it because if she dies I have to hire a bunch of people and if I die she doesn't need anyone.  You have a strong presence on Facebook and seem to navigate it well. What's the lure for you? It's almost like a different personality, but I don't do politics and a lot of the stuff I do is B.S. The people that know me know that I'm kidding but a lot of people take it serious and that's what makes it funny. Some people will comment and take everything I say like it is the law. Normally when I put down 'no joke' or 'not kidding' that means that I'm serious but a lot of the stuff is B.S. and my friends know it. I don't do much work, my wife does most of it, so after I'm done jogging and entering horses, I sit at the barn and watch everything while I'm on my phone. I watch replays, races and look at buying horses.  Food always seems to play a major role in your Facebook commentary but it is always about the lower end of the spectrum. Do you eat at any fancy restaurants? Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a big foodie and I've eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world. I kid around about the Wawa. We eat really well. Maria and I don't go out to eat a lot and we are always on the run, so unfortunately we have to eat some quick food.  I'm a cook because my dad was a chef, but I just don't love to do it. We have a couple of good meals a week and will go out to restaurants when we can. What kind of car do you drive? I have a Ram truck and Maria has a Range Rover. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Steak with salt potatoes; Trail mix. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? Probably Monticello, as crazy as it may seem, because I feel like I'm at home. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? I watch everything, the Jug, Cup & Saucer, Hambletonian, Breeders Crown. I guess I would say the Hambletonian. How often are horses or racing on your mind? 99% of the time.  What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? Watch the news. I watch it day and night. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? None. I don't watch sports. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? I'm a good cook. Also that I went to Moscow and represented the United States for a driving event years ago. I think I'm the third American to ever win in Moscow; I think Delvin Miller, Howard Beissinger and me. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? I hate to say it but Doomed. I don't want to sound like a 'Debbie Downer'. You have won nearly 1,500 races as a driver but gave it up about a decade ago. Why? When I first started it was fun for me but the older I got the less fun it got and then I was just not looking forward to it. I was ok at it, my lifetime batting average [UDRS] is probably around .300. In the low start years my average was low but the high-start years it was better. At Vernon I was the leading driver for a few years and at Monticello I was the top percentage drivers for a couple of years. To me it just wasn't enjoyable and it created anxiety, plus I didn't want to drive bad horses. I figured I'm better off putting the top drivers down.  That said, I think I'm going to be driving here [Oak Grove]. Kevin Wallis is going to be doing my driving, but I'm going to have two in a bunch of races and when that happens I'm going to drive the other horse. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter At your peak, were you a better driver or trainer? I've always thought I was a better trainer, even though I don't have a lot of training starts. I was married and then I was with this other girl and she was down as trainer. When I drove I didn't want to go down as trainer either because if you get days you can't drive. Now my wife literally does all the work so she should get the fame.  How many horses do you currently have in your barn? 12. Which is the best horse you've ever trained or driven? The best horse I trained was a mare called Mafi and she was second in the Breeders Crown [1992] for me. The best horse I ever drove was Magical Leah. I won the New York Sire Stakes final [2002] with her for Jimmy Cruise Jr. I've driven some really good horses once or twice that just passed through like Showherthemoney or He's Gorgeous. They would pop up in the Opens at Vernon and when I was the leading driver I would get the drive.  What was your best moment in harness racing? I'm not an emotional person. If you told me I won Lotto right now I wouldn't jump up and down. I get more upset than I do happy. Probably winning the New York Sire Stakes final. What is the best advice you've ever gotten or given about harness racing? One of them is never miss a day jogging. If you look over the fence on the worst weather day at who is jogging, I guarantee those are the leading horsemen at the racetrack. The other piece of advice is when you see a fool in trouble, leave them there. That is probably the best advice. After almost exclusively racing in the western New York area for years you and Maria ventured to Pompano this winter. Why? Buffalo couldn't accommodate our horses. They said that our horses were too good. Gabe Prewitt texted me a few times about coming down. We didn't plan it at all. It was like a two-week thing and all of a sudden our partners were like if you want to go we'll support you. They told me to enjoy the winter in the sun, and we had horses coming off layoffs that were just starting to race and we didn't want to shut them down for three months.  Did you enjoy the experience at Pompano? It was awesome. It may have been one of the highlights of my career. It was sad because Pompano was closing for good but we had a great winter. We made some money but didn't get rich. We had a lot of poolside dinners and a lot of laughs. It was also very sad seeing everyone's lives just go down the tubes after being at Pompano their whole lives. The closer the end of the meet came the more people were panicking and it was upsetting.  Now you are in southern Kentucky to race at Oak Grove when the meet begins May 8. What lured you there? The purses. Buffalo still said they can't accommodate all of my horses. Closing day here is opening day at Batavia and I was told Batavia should have no problem accommodating our horses. I have four Open trotters, two Open mares, some Open boys. At Buffalo the most I would get in would be three to four a week. At Oak Grove I can race two in a race. I don't know if we'll get any of the money, but I'll take my chances. It can't be tougher than Pompano. Rumor has it you are enjoying the pizza in the Kentucky/Tennessee area? My wife just ate Jett's pizza and she says it's the best pizza she's had since we got here. We eat pizza almost every day for the past year or two; I don't know why. What are you going to do next year when Batavia's meet ends? I have no idea. I would like to go back to Buffalo but if they can't accommodate me I'll probably head out to Ohio or downstate to the New York metropolitan area. You have to go where the money is. I like being the bigger fish in the smaller pond and that is why I choose some of our venues, but I would adjust and claim better horses if we needed to for Yonkers. We would probably hold our own, maybe not knock 'em dead but make a living.   If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? It used to be the drag but they've proven me wrong. They changed the drag at The Meadowlands and lost 20% of their handle. I know it sounds crazy but I'd love for "deal" trainers to be eliminated. To me "deal" trainers ruin the sport because their care for the horses is different because they only make money when the horse races. They race the hides off their horses. I only work on training bills. Some people prefer deals but to me that can lead to racing lame horses, and I hate that. Some people may hate that I say it, but that's my personal opinion.  How do you view the future of harness racing? We are in dial-up and harness racing needs to get into the high speed. I'm not a big fan of the .10 bets. Years ago you had to bet $3 tris when handles were big. Now they make what I call 'mind' bets with all these dime superfectas and stuff. I'm not a big fan of those cheap bets but maybe they are working. I'm not behind the scenes. What I do know is that people don't want to sit four hours for a program. They want to go home and go to bed. In order to bring people to the track they have to run the races faster, though the Thoroughbreds run races every half-hour and do big money, so what do I know? To me we live in a high speed world and everything has to be go, go, go.  If you weren't involved in harness racing, what would you be doing? I would love to be in some type of track management or be a race secretary but if I wasn't involved in harness racing, I don't know. It has been my whole life. My wife and I always kid around that we should retire and do Instacart. You deliver groceries to people's houses and just drop it at the front door and don't have to deal with people. I'm trying to save up enough to retire and hopefully I don't have to do anything other than harness racing.  Time for the stretch drive... Best Horse you ever saw: Somebeachsomewhere and Niatross.  Best Driver Ever?: Herve Filion. I was always a Walter Case fan growing up because he was aggressive. Years later when I was stabled at Yonkers and I got to drive with Walter and Herve in every race. To me it was apples and oranges. Herve never used the whip, never abused the horse. He could make the horse live on the outside and always had the horse in the right place at the right time. He was never whipping, slashing and kicking. I'm a fan of Tim Tetrick and David Miller but Herve was just a magician. My favorite horse, I broke the track record with her and after the race he told me to change a bunch of things and I went up to the owner and told him I didn't want Herve to drive my horse again. So the owner told me to do whatever Herve says, which was to let her hobbles out as far as they would go, let her head down as far as it would go and put the headpole on tight. So I did it and she broke her own track record by a second and a half. Ever since then I always listened to Herve.  Lasix -- Yes or No?: Yes, 100%. Favorite TV Show?: Curb Your Enthusiasm. My wife calls me Larry David because by the time I leave a store I'm always complaining and asking for the manager. It's all in good fun. Trotters or Pacers?: Trotters.