Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Nick Clegg Takes His Shot At The Big M
If his five-year-old daughter, Kimber, is right, fulfilling the lifelong dream of a successful stable at the Meadowlands might be easier than driver Nick Clegg thought. Clegg, a regular at Chicago's Balmoral Park, brought a small stable to the Meadowlands in November and won with his first starter, Special Destiny, on November 19. He also reached the winner's circle with his second starter, Dominator Plus, on December 3.

"Everybody at home preached to us about how tough it would be and, as kind of an arrogant joke, I would have my five-year-old daughter answer them with 'How tough can it possibly be?'" Clegg said. "I thought she forgot all about it, but when she came down to the winner's circle that first night, she said, 'See Daddy, how tough can it possibly be?'"

He has had encouraging results, earning checks with five of seven starters so far.

"If I can round up enough horses I'd like to stay full-time at the Meadowlands," he said. "I've always wanted to try it here. It's always been a goal of mine. There's nine all together that we have stabled at the Meadowlands."

A little sibling rivalry helped spark the harness bug in Clegg.

"My Dad, George, was an owner and trained a few," the 30-year-old reinsman explained. "My brother George got into it, and I thought if he could do it, than I could, too. It was a little bit of an ego thing. When I was 15, I went to Michigan and started to work for some of the major stables out there, like Jim Mayes. About every track I went to I was leading driver, but I had to borrow money to get back home. So I figured it was time to move on. I went back home in 1998, got a bunch of horses together and started out on my own at 18."
Since then, Clegg has won 500 races and reached $1 million in earnings as a driver. Although he has driven in some fine company on the Chicago circuit, he wasn't prepared for the surreal feeling of dancing on harness racing's biggest stage.

"The first horse we raced here won, and it didn't sink in for a while," he said. "I waited my whole life to come here. Everybody's been great to me. It's weird standing in the driver's room next to the guys I grew up admiring and having my heroes to talk to me like we're
buddies."

It was a "now or never" decision for Clegg and his wife, Betty, who is listed as trainer on their horses, to give New Jersey a try.

"Our daughter, Kimber, is five and starts kindergarten next year, so if we were going to leave and give it a try, we had to do it before she started kindergarten," he said. "Our son, Team, is one and a half. All our lives we waited to get a nice house and a farm. We finally got it last year and now we're here. I don't know if it's bravery or stupidity."