Catello Manzi

Catello Manzi
Personal information
Full name Catello R. Manzi
Nationality American
Born (1950-06-27) June 27, 1950
Monticello, New York
Residence Freehold Township, New Jersey
Sport
Sport Harness racing

Catello R. Manzi (born June 27, 1950) is an American harness racing driver and trainer. Manzi's nickname is 'Catman'.[1]

Born in Monticello, New York, Manzi grew up in Sullivan County, New York, in a harness-racing family. His father Alphonso was a horse trainer.[2] He drove his first race at Monticello Raceway in the late 1960s. Manzi's first career win came at Pocono Downs in 1969.[3]

In 1974 Manzi set a Monticello Raceway record for most wins by a driver.[4]

The 1994 Yonkers Trot winner, Bullsville Victory, was driven by Manzi.[5] Manzi also drove Sugar Trader to victory in the 2003 Yonkers Trot.[6] The Yonkers Trot is the second leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters.

On May 27, 1999, Manzi suffered serious injuries in a spill at Freehold Raceway.[7]

Manzi was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in July 2002.[8]

On December 31, 2005 at the age of 55, Manzi became the oldest harness driver to lead North America in victories.[9]

For two decades Manzi would drive afternoon races at Freehold Raceway, go home to eat dinner, then drive more races in the evening at Meadowlands Racetrack.[10]

Manzi drove his 14,000th career winner on December 14, 2010 at Yonkers Raceway.[11] At the time, Hervé Filion and Dave Palone were the only other harness horse drivers to have 14,000 or more career winners.

On March 28, 2014, Manzi announced his retirement from driving following two bad accidents. The first, on September 6, 2013 at Freehold Raceway, left Manzi with a fractured pelvis. After recovering, he returned to racing only to be injured again when the starting car at Freehold Raceway lost control and collided with several drivers and horses on January 10, 2014.[12]

At the time of his retirement, Manzi was ranked third all-time for wins at 14,812, and fifth all-time in earnings at $158.5 million.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Harness Racing trivia
  2. ↑ Cat Manzi to be inducted into Harness Hall of Fame
  3. ↑ Cat Manzi joins a select group of harness drivers
  4. ↑ Catello Manzi top driver
  5. ↑ Horse Racing; 22-1 Shot at Yonkers
  6. ↑ Plus: Harness Racing; Sugar Trader Wins Yonkers Trot
  7. ↑ Three harness drivers injured when horses collide
  8. ↑ Manzi Dashes To Harness Hall
  9. ↑ Harness driver Cat Manzi, 55, concludes record season
  10. ↑ The Catman of the Meadowlands (and Freehold)
  11. ↑ Cat Manzi wins number 14,000
  12. ↑ http://www.harnessracing.com/news/catmanziretiresfromdriving.html
  13. ↑ Cat Manzi retires from driving

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, January 14, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.