Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Trainer of the Month
for July 2010

Jake Huff

Pompano Park-based trainer Jake Huff, 49, has been training Standardbreds for nearly three deacdes, and began his foray into the harness racing business as a second trainer for horsemen Gordon Norris and later Bruce Ranger.

Jake Huff

"Jake is probably the most hardest working person I have ever known," Ranger noted. "He's very honest and definitely works too hard. He's a tremendous horsemen and it's a shame there are not more horsemen out there like him."

Raised in a horse racing family, the Durand, Michigan native said he never wanted to do anything but train horses and now divides his time between racing at Pompano in the winter and Pocono Downs in the summer months.

Huff's family owned and trained and drove Shiaway St Pat early on in the homebred geldings career before he went on to win the Hambletonian Trot in 1981 with the Ray Remmen Stable. In 1993-1994, he worked for Stanley Dancer and conditioned the top horses Donerail and Lifelong Victory.

Over the years, Huff has trained the gutsy mare Lady Netty N through her 100 career wins, the trotter Speed Pine to 90 wins and set the double-gaited world record for mares with Remember Kate. He is also an active director of the Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association.

At one time, Huff was racing approximately six horses every night at Pompano Park, but in the past few years has scaled down his racehorse operation in favor of developing stakes colts.

"My days are much busier and we're not racing as many nights now," he said. "We decided to concentrate on colts as opposed to overnight horses, but the hours haven't really changed, they've just shifted to more daytime hours."

In 2004, Huff was inducted into the Florida Harness Racing Hall of Fame by his peers, and to date has conditioned 1,171 winners to $5,933,401 in earnings.