Robert Taylor has been a mainstay on the Midwest Standardbred circuit for more than two decades. The native of Mississippi, who operates a training center near Hoosier Park in Indiana, has over 400 driving wins and north of 800 as a trainer. Taylor, who is having a career year as both a trainer and in the bike, recently won an Indiana Sire Stakes final with Musclefantastic and that horse has gone on to the Breeders Crown final. The 41-year-old took time out from his busy schedule to discuss his path in the sport, racing at Hoosier Park and much more.    How did you get started in harness racing? I got started through my dad [Donnie R. Taylor], who is a full-time farrier. He trained colts back in the early and mid-1980s and would send them up to some friends of ours – Jessie and James Springfield. They raced them in Louisville, Kentucky and Henderson, Kentucky at those tracks. Horses have always been in our family for three or four generations now. My grandfather on my dad’s side trained riding horses. My dad got out of the business for a few years. When I was in junior high school, my brother and I begged him for a horse, then he bought a couple more and we started training horses again. In 1999, my brother Donnie [C. Taylor] and I went up to Balmoral Park in Chicago to race. How did the work of your grandfather and dad get you to where you are today? The main thing they taught me was work ethic. Our family has always been hard-working. My dad is 72 years old and he’s still shoeing horses and working full-time. He also has several broodmares on our farm in Tennessee. It was always instilled in me to pray hard, work hard and hope everything works out. You drive the majority of horses you train. What goes into the decision to do both? Mostly because I have a lot of trotters, at least 60 percent of the barn. Especially with younger horses, I’ve always driven a lot. I use catch-drivers some, too, though I probably did it more in the past. With younger trotters, when you know them better and you know their quirks, it makes it easier to drive them. Plus I enjoy doing it too. Statistically you are a better trainer (15.9%) than driver (11.5%). Do you feel that you are as good as a top catch-driver like Trace Tetrick? With my own horses I think I can do as well, just because I know them. I don’t drive as much as Trace does, and the more you are out there the better you are. But I do pretty much drive on a nightly basis. It may not be 10 to 12 a night but I drive two to three a night. You currently race at Hoosier and live in Indiana. Can you talk a bit about the convenience of a one-track circuit? It is a good thing. The farm and training center that my wife and I built is only four miles from Hoosier Park. It is very convenient being so close to home where you don’t have to ship a lot and spend hours on the road. Several of my friends live two or three hours away and have to ship back and forth. How has the venture gone with the training center? Really good. We started out with nothing but a soybean field when we first broke ground. We had to do everything from scratch – digging wells; adding electricity; putting up buildings. We now have three barns with 94 total stalls. I use one whole barn myself and we have probably 85-90 percent of the rest of the stalls rented out in the other two barns. How many horses do you have in the barn? We just brought in 10 yearlings in that we are breaking for next year and that takes us to about 28 or 29 head. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter What do you do during the winter months when Hoosier is closed? We train the young horses for next year. About 90 percent of the barn are younger horses. I also keep four or five that we’ll ship to Ohio to race. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? My favorite of all-time is probably Balmoral Park in Chicago. It was such a nice track – one mile with big swooping turns and a great racing surface. The quality of horses was good. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? The Hambletonian. I never competed in it. The closest I got to competing in a race like that was in 2009 with Southern Rocketop. He was third in the Canadian Trotting Classic going for $1 million and he finished third behind Muscle Hill. He wasn’t eligible to the Hambletonian or he probably would’ve been in it. Have you ever been to the Hambletonian? I have not. I told myself that I’ll probably never go until I have a horse that can race in it. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? Besides spending time with family, my wife [Stefanie] and son [Tristan], my hobby is fishing. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don’t know? I can get very emotional. If you watched me in the winner’s circle after the Indiana Super Final win I almost broke down and cried. 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? Work hard, keep your head down and stay humble. What was your best moment in harness racing? There are two: winning the Indiana Super Final last week with Musclefantastic and training Southern Rocketop to a second-place finish in the World Trotting Derby behind Muscle Hill. You’ve had a few moments on the Grand Circuit stage. Is Musclefantastic your first Breeders Crown starter? Yes. I’m very, very excited. He’s come along really nicely. We had him ready for the first leg of the Sire Stakes but I told my owner Kyle and his wife – because he was kind of looking to see him race – that we should wait and set him up for later in the year when the big money is on the line. I felt like he was a nice colt that could have the ability to compete in those races. It has worked out really well. We had a tough go in the Peter Haughton when I got a bad trip and then he drew the nine-hole in the Madison County and shied away from the outside fence and made a break right before the start. He got over some sickness he dealt with in the last leg of the Sire Stakes and showed up right when we needed him to in the final. [Editor’s Note: This interview took place before Musclefantastic qualified for the Breeders Crown final.] Is there a home field advantage at Hoosier? To an extent. One thing in our favor is that he’s fresh and hasn’t been shipping all over the country like some others, and I’m not saying those horses are tired, but my horse should be as fresh as any of them. He hasn’t had as many starts as some of the others and the farthest he’s had to ship is four miles. You are having a career year as a driver in terms of earnings and are approaching that same mark on the training side. What has led you to that point? Just trying to be consistent with work and the quality of horses. I have a lot of great owners but we don’t really go out to the sales and spend $150,000 or $200,000 because if they don’t make a nice horse you can lose your rear-end on them. We try to go after solid well-bred colts in the $15,000 to $30,000 range. I’m blessed to have good owners, support from my family – my mom and dad, my in-laws – and they are all involved to some extent in the business helping us out. When you look at the top trainers and drivers in the sport almost all are Caucasian. Is it a problem that harness racing lacks diversity at the top of the pyramid? I think at times it is. If I look back, George Teague had a big run and was a very successful trainer, and there have been some other guys. I think a lot depends on who you are and where you come from as to whether you get the opportunities. Jordan Ross is a driver now. He worked for me for eight years before he went out full-time catch-driving and he’s gotten the opportunity. I told him early on, ‘if it is meant to be it will happen. If you just keep working hard and make the most of the opportunities you get while staying humble, it will happen.’ He’s doing great now. He went overseas to represent the country [World Driving Championship] and he’s the first African American to do that. So having the opportunities is the main thing and making the most out of those opportunities. Are there enough opportunities out there for people of color? I think so. You have to put yourself in a position to have the opportunities come to you. That means having a great work ethic, being respectful of people, staying humble and doing the best you can do. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? Universal medication across the board from state to state and track to track. We need one set of rules that govern everything so everyone can be on the same playing field. For instance, a horse in Ohio can have Bute 24 hours before a race but in Indiana it is 48 hours. How do you view the future of harness racing? I think it has a strong future and has been on the rise the last few years. I know the number of horses is down a bit, but purses are up and there are plenty of opportunities for people. Time for the stretch drive. Best Horse you ever saw: Muscle Hill Lasix – Yes or No: Yes. Favorite TV Show: Justified. Trotters or Pacers: Trotters.