Family and friends play a big part in the Krasnican clan’s enjoyment of harness racing, even if only in name.

John Krasnican Jr. and his mom, Mary, have been breeding and owning horses together for a couple decades. Often, they name horses after family members or friends. The most successful of those — My Buddy Ninkster — competes in Saturday’s (Feb. 6) $20,000 Open I Handicap for male pacers at Miami Valley Raceway.

My Buddy Ninkster, a homebred nine-year-old gelding, enters the event with 45 wins in 231 career starts and $585,781 in earnings. He’s accumulated that money the old-fashioned way; he’s earned it. None of his 159 cheque-collecting finishes have come in a race with a purse greater than $25,000.

“To do what he’s done is impressive,” John Krasnican Jr. said. “He’s a special horse. He’s been the bread and butter of everything. He’s the type you dream of having.”

My Buddy Ninkster spent his first two seasons in Indiana, where his competition included stars Wiggle It Jiggleit, the 2015 Horse of the Year, and Freaky Feet Pete, the 2015 Breeders Crown champion.

At age four, My Buddy Ninkster headed first to Chicago and then to Ohio. In his first start at Miami Valley Raceway in 2016, he opened eyes with a last-to-first rally to capture the Open I Handicap. My Buddy Ninkster was eighth, six lengths off the lead, at three-quarters but used a three-wide move around the final turn to win going away by 1-3/4 lengths.

“It looked like he had no prayer,” Krasnican said. “I still have it on video at home and watch it quite often. It’s my favourite race of all time to watch. It was pretty special.”

My Buddy Ninkster, named after one of Krasnican’s friends, is not the family’s only success. The horse’s dam, the homebred Sporty Ellie, was named after Krasnican’s daughter and visited the winner’s circle 13 times in her career.

Another homebred, Johns My Buddy, named after Krasnican’s oldest son, earned $119,061 lifetime. Big Brad, an $11,000 yearling purchase renamed after Krasnican’s youngest son, set the track record of 1:51.1 for a two-year-old colt pacer at Balmoral Park in 2012, erasing a mark established 10 years earlier by Yankee Cruiser, and earned more than $300,000 for the family before he was claimed away.

“We name the horses after family and friends and try to get other people interested in the business,” Krasnican said. “It’s kind of a way to promote it a little bit. If people are unfamiliar with racing, you name a horse after them and all of a sudden they’re interested and watching.”

Krasnican became interested in racing as a teenager through trips to the track with his dad.

“I was always interested in the sport, it was always fun to watch,” he said. “We liked to bet the horses. We don’t bet as much now. We figure what we’ve got invested is our bet.”

Krasnican at one time considered becoming a trainer but decided the best way for him to be hands-on in the sport was as a breeder.

“My parents got involved as owners in the mid-1980s and I got involved in ’96 with them,” the 48-year-old Krasnican said. “I told Dad that, if you want a horse to race for a lot of money, you need young ones. I thought the easiest way to do that was breeding them.”

He added with a laugh, “After doing it for 20-some years, I don’t believe that’s true anymore.”

Krasnican, who works full time, has scaled back on breeding in recent years, keeping three broodmares at his 20-acre farm in Streator, Ill., where he gets assistance from his dad and brother, Chuck.

“It’s kind of a family affair,” Krasnican said. “I couldn’t do it without my dad and my brother. They help a lot on the farm.

“Three (broodmares) is a comfortable number where you can still have fun with it. I always want to be in the business. I just want to make it so it’s enjoyable. We’ve had some success for being a small stable.”

Racing begins at 4:05 p.m. (EST) Saturday at Miami Valley.

(USTA)