Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Personality of the Month
January 2009

Karen Fagliarone

Karen Fagliarone grew up in a horse racing family. Her brother followed their father into a racing career based at Freehold Raceway. An uncle raced, too.

Karen Fagliarone

But not Fagliarone, who says she "wasn't allowed to step foot in the barn area until I was 18. My dad was really strict, and didn't think the barn area was a place for a girl."

Now she runs the place.

Fagliarone, 47, was recently named the racing director of Freehold Raceway. She is one of the three women holding that job at the 46 harness racetracks nationwide, according to an industry association.

"I'm really pleased with the way (my new job) is going," Fagliarone said. "It's an important time for the racing industry because we have funding issues, and we have to figure out ways to deal with these issues, but in the meantime our racing office has to give the public the best, most attractive races that we can offer."

Indeed, Fagliarone was promoted from assistant racing director at an especially tricky time to oversee the racing schedule. The raceway has been pitted against the horsemen in a dispute over a portion of the funds from the state's $90 million horse-racing bailout program.

State racing regulators last month turned back an attempt by a horsemen's association to hold up approvals on the track's 2009 meet schedule because of the standoff.

Fagliarone interacts regularly with the trainers and owners, but she said there's little bad blood.

"I'm the first line of fire, but the horsemen know we've maintained our purses despite the dispute," she said. "We'd love to make it happen where we can get increased purses to them."

Phil Jasper, a trainer who campaigns a few horses at the track, said: "I think she's doing a great job. She's always nice when you have a question and tries to help if there's a problem."

Fagliarone is in charge of all aspects of the racing program. She schedules the approximately 40 races the track conducts each week, making sure the races are competitively balanced and thus appealing to bettors. The amount bet on races can top $1 million a day.

The process of putting together a one-day card of 10 or more races begins with the posting of a condition sheet, which lists race classes based on the gait, age, gender, earnings or sales value of the horses. Trainers and owners typically phone in the entries of their horses.

On a recent morning, a race card was developing smoothly until things ground to a halt.

"We needed one more horse (to finish the entries)," said Peter Iovino, Fagliarone's assistant, explaining the holdup. "At that point we started making calls to trainers who we thought might have a horse available."

It only took about 10 minutes for the calls by Fagliarone and Iovino to find a horse they could slot into the program.

The emergence of Fagliarone as the first top female executive at a New Jersey racetrack comes more than 30 years after Jacqueline Ingrassia became the first woman to drive regularly in races at Freehold Raceway.

"When I started, women were just not easily accepted on the racetrack," said Ingrassia of Upper Freehold, one of two women to win more than 1,000 races in harness racing.

"It's definitely easier in this climate to make a career in racing than it was 30 years ago. Things have changed dramatically, though it's still not easy, and you still need fortitude when you step into what's been perceived as a man's world. When I started, people made things hard for me, and I used to get extremely discouraged and I'd feel very sorry for myself before things improved," she said.

"Karen was a little hesitant when she was offered the job. Anybody would have been, because it's a big responsibility, but I encouraged her and told her, "You've got to win one for the women,' " Ingrassia added.

Fagliarone was promoted by Donald R. Codey, track general manager, on the recommendation of the former racing director, Peter Koch, who left to take a similar post at the Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford.

"Karen is extremely well-qualified," Codey said.

Fagliarone's father, Jim McGovern, was a successful trainer-driver who died in 1982. Her brother Jamie is a former trainer-driver who now limits his participation to owning four horses. An uncle, Don McGovern, raced in Florida.

Fagliarone has lived in Monmouth County since she was 12, when her family moved from Staten Island to a 120-acre farm in Upper Freehold. Her first racetrack job was in the office of the New Jersey Racing Commission in 1979, and she went on to work in the publicity office and racing office.

Fagliarone's husband, Michael, is a former trainer-driver who is the current Freehold Raceway track superintendent. They have three children: Michael, 29, an Oceanport police officer; Christine, 25, an executive assistant for a Tinton Falls company; and Gina, 12, who attends Barkalow Middle School in Freehold Township.