Joe Faraldo, president of the North American Amateur Drivers Association, has confirmed that Gerry Fielding will be the fourth and final member of the NAADA team that will wing its way to New Zealand to compete against its Down Under counterparts in a series of Friendship Races slated for early December.

Fielding will join Peter Kleinhans, Dave Offenberg, and Joe Lee, all of whom have been previously announced to represent the USA in the forthcoming competition.

Fielding, a graduate of Rider College and longtime Monticello (NY) native, has been involved in harness racing for many decades and obtained his initial New York license in 1960.

“I got started in the business jogging horses and breaking yearlings helping the John Manzi Stables at Monticello Raceway,” Fielding acknowledged. “I’ve also been involved in harness racing through the Ron Ingrassia and Gary Messenger Stables.”

By 1981, Fielding began delving into harness racing more avidly. He obtained an amateur license that season and over the years, usually with less than 20 drives annually, he thus far has driven 64 winners.

Fielding’s involvement in the sport has increased over the years not only as an amateur driver but as founder and president of the Catskill Amateur Drivers Club (CADC).

“For 20 years I was the vice president of the Billings Series and have long been a member Board of Directors at Goshen Historic Track,” he said.

“As a member of the Board of Directors of Goshen Historic Track I chair the racing committee serving as a licensed presiding judge and matinee race secretary.”

An amateur driver with 64 wins to his credit, Fielding is proud of having driven the winners of two Billings consolations as well as four CADC Pacing finals. He also won the Goshen International Trot and a North American Amateur Drivers Associations Final at Yonkers.

“At Monticello (Raceway) a few years ago I won the Bob Grant Trot and I hold a track record there,” he added. “I am a former ‘Amateur Driver of the Year’ at Monticello Raceway – named by the Monticello-Goshen Chapter USHWA – and I have had the privilege of racing in Canada, Finland, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Spain as well as 11 different states in the U.S.

Over the years, Fielding has owned several harness horses. “My partner on many horses, Dr. Scott Leaf, keeps me active as an owner of many Standardbreds,” he said.

Fielding is involved in multiple sports, much to the envy of his septuagenarian friends. He is a world class skier and has also been in the ski business most of his life, too. And he is still active today.

“I have been on the New York Tramway Council for over 30 years; appointed by multiple New York governors. We (the Tramway Council) are an arm of the NY Dept. of Labor Division of Safety & Health promulgating all legislation In NY.

The Monticello, NY resident has been married for 48 years to Kathy and together they’ve raised three children and are the proud grandparents of seven.

(NAADA)