Tony Alagna, A Bright Star on the Illinois Horizon
can remember him saying,’ you have to be optimistic, but you have to be realistic.’ My mother is another person in this business I really admire. She’s trained on the tough Chicago circuit for year with success. She is one of the few women trainers that actually trains her own horses, she’s just not listed as trainer for her husband.”
Tony says his perception of the harness racing business has changed dramatically over the years, and credits breeding with changing much of the sport.
“I can remember my parents having to put brace bandages and sideweights on colts just to get them gaited. Nowadays, we wonder what is going on if one doesn’t go to pacing the first week we hook them,” Tony said. “And colts tend to break out easier then when I was growing up. And everyone used to train three trips. I still train the occasional horse three trips but that’s usually when I’m trying to correct a problem. I still think that the bottom line with these horses is that you have to take care of them and you have to get them out of the barn. Horses will let you know when they have a problem, you just have to pay attention.”
“I think you have to be patient and persistent, and that like my mother told me, you get out of the business what you put into it,” Tony added. “My goal is to train a $1 million bonus winner. We had high hopes with Fox Valley Coquete this year, as she won the first of four legs of the Illinois State Fair and was second in the next two legs to Oneinamiliongirl, who eventually got the bonus. But it was fun to be a contender, and hopefully we’ll achieve that goal soon.”
Ever optimistic, Tony says that marketing harness racing should be all horsemen’s responsibility.
“Harness racing is always going to be an evolving industry,” Tony concluded. “We need to market our product, and it is our job as horsemen to make sure that the public realizes that thoroughbreds aren’t the only game in town. We are competing for a gambling dollar and it the public doesn’t see us as an option, how can we go forward? Illinois has taken a step in the right direction with their Strategic Planning Council, it is up to us to do the rest.”
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