After a two-year hiatus from the game he’d been a part of for decades, Andy Toscano is back. Effective Friday, May 1, he will be the man facing the field in the car with the wings as the new starter at The Meadowlands.

“I retired from Yonkers two years ago. I was in the starter car there for 22 years,” said Toscano, 66, who was once a trainer and driver at Roosevelt and Yonkers Raceways. “I have worked at Tioga, Monticello, Goshen and Saratoga. They kind of put me where they needed me, but my home track was Yonkers.”

Now, Toscano’s home venue will be the mile oval that stands in the shadows of the New York City skyline.

“I told [track Chief Operating Officer and General Manager] Jason [Settlemoir] I would help him out whenever I could,” said Toscano. “I like Jason, and I look forward to being at The Meadowlands, where they have a lot of good people.”

But Toscano stressed that the man he’s replacing isn’t gone for good.

“Between the both of us, we can get it done,” said Toscano, who was referring to the likelihood of long-time Big M starter Moe LaFountaine filling in now and again.

“I’m taking advantage of this opportunity, but not necessarily looking to stay for 10 years,” said Toscano with a laugh.

“I started the races at The Meadowlands for nine years,” said LaFountaine, who is leaving to become an associate judge at Harrah’s Philadelphia. “I met Jason Settlemoir at Tioga in 2007 when I was a Michigan horseman, and Michigan was dying. In 2014 or ’15, I pursued getting my starter’s license. There are not many licensed starters working today. It’s a low number. We’re in kind of a bind for starters.”

LaFountaine loved starting races, but he so rarely was able to spend time with his wife, working evenings at The Big M as well as Maryland’s Rosecroft Raceway and Ocean Downs.

Thus, he’s heading to Philly to sit on the same judges stand as his spouse, Jennifer, who is already an associate judge at the five-eighths-mile track.

“I’m looking forward to a new set of challenges,” said LaFountaine, 58, who is also an associate judge. “I’ve have had my judging license since 2022. I have worked in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania filling in.

“Jennifer works afternoons at Philly, and my jobs were all at night. We only had one afternoon a week together. This is the way we are getting on the same schedule. We wanted to better our lives as a couple.”

But while he looks ahead to his new gig as an associate judge, he’ll always look back fondly on what he used to do. And hopes to still do it. Every now and then.

“If Andy needs me on a Saturday, I’m there,” said LaFountaine.

Settlemoir had nothing but good things to say about his starters, both past and present.

“Moe and his wife, Jennifer, are like family to me. We will miss Moe and wish him the best in his new position in Pennsylvania and I will lay odds that we haven’t seen the last of Moe and Jennifer at The Meadowlands. On behalf of [track Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] Jeff Gural, we thank Moe for all of his years of service at The Big M.

“Andy is a breath of fresh air and I look forward to getting to know him better. As everyone knows, I like riding in the back of the gate with the starter. It is definitely, as I have said over and over, the best seat in the house and I have always said that when I retire, I would like to either start races or judge them. We wish Andy the best and look forward to him showcasing his years of experience in the starter car here at The Meadowlands.”

(Meadowlands Racetrack)