It's hard not to root for a guy that skipped his high school graduation in order to go to the racetrack. Meet 80-year-old harness owner, trainer and driver Gerry Longo, who is currently competing at Shenandoah Downs in Woodstock, Virginia and is fresh off a driving win on Sunday, Oct. 5 -- his ninth since turning 80 back on April 22 -- with four-year-old pacing mare Rollin In The Sand.
The driving victory was number 3,124 for Longo, in start number 20,200. Later on Sunday's card, he scored a runner-up finish with Hoo Nien A -- which marked career start number 8,400 as a trainer. Not bad for a guy who was born in Rochester, New York, grew up in the carnival business in California and after high school, packed his bags to chase a career in harness racing.
"My dad died when I was nine so my uncles told my mom to come work at a carnival they operated in California. When I wasn't in school, I'd be blowing up balloons and running 'dime on a dish,'" recalled Longo. "My mom would let me go to the races -- we only lived three miles away from Los Alamitos. All the fairs in California had a combination of harness, Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing and when I saw drivers on harness horses for the first time, I was hooked."
"I ended up seeing a harness driver named Larry Gregory at all the same fairs I attended. Wherever he would go, I'd be there and one day I asked him for a job," continued Longo. "He said, 'Oh no, we're not hiring.' I told him I'd work for free. I got the job. I shovelled manure and walked horses. I'm 15 or 16 years old and still making $500 and $600 [USD] a week in the carnival business. In the 1960s, that was a lot of money."
Longo bought two horses while still in school and neither did any good. He sold both, graduated high school then left to pursue his dream in Batavia, New York, heading east with Gregory.
After arriving, Longo bought a horse for from Roy Saul for $1,000 USD who went on to win six in a row. He went to Northfield, Ohio next and spent $1,500 USD on another purchase -- who also went on to win six in a row. He has been buying and selling horses since.
A number of decades have passed since that first taste of Standardbred racing but surprisingly, Longo's career highlight came just three years ago when he won the Dan Patch Stakes at Running Aces in Minnesota with his horse, A Major Omen.
"I finally got my good horse," he said. "A real good horse. I bought him for $60,000 [USD] in the fall of 2021, brought him to Shenandoah Downs and won the first two races with him. A year later, he won the Dan Patch. That was my biggest thrill in the business. I've won over $300,000 [USD] with him so I made back my investment and then some."
Up until Cal Expo closed recently, Longo's annual circuit included stints at tracks in California, Minnesota, Virginia and Illinois -- an ambitious schedule for any horseman let alone a 70-something.
"I wouldn't give this life up for anything," he said. "I own. I train. I drive. I've never had any other job except working at the carnival when I was in high school. I don't have a home. I'm always mobile. Home is wherever l'm racing at the time. I'll sleep in dorm rooms at the track I'm at. My daughter has a home in Riverside, California and I've only been to see her three times in the last five years, mainly for holidays. I've got to take care of horses seven days a week. I told her wherever I die, just bury my ashes at the track I'm at because they're going to have to scrape me off the track."
Longo has been consistent as a driver and trainer over the years. He has been first or near the top of the driver standings at tracks like Cal Expo, Hollywood Park and Los Alamitos. His first driving win was in 1966 at the Tiffin Fair in Ohio. Most recently, Longo has been very supportive of Virginia tracks. He competed at Colonial Downs from 2010-2014 and has been a regular at each of the 10 fall meets at Shenandoah Downs since. He doesn't see himself slowing down any time soon.
"I feel like I'm going to live to be a hundred years old," he said. "I still get a rush out of driving. I still get a rush out of being in the winner's circle. I still think I'm competitive. I plan to keep going until I don't think I'm competitive any longer. I'm still proud of new accomplishments. The horse I won with Sunday is a new purchase. She was winning when I bought her and I've been able to keep that going."
Since records kept going back to 1977, Longo has won more than a hundred races in a year as a driver six different times. His best season was in 1993 when the horse he drove earned more than $600,000 USD in purse money.
Asked if there is a secret to his endurance and consistency, he replied, "Good work, hard work and good health. It's not the driving that wins a race. It's the horse and the people behind the scenes. The grooms and trainers get them out every day and work hard. We don't have any lazy people in the horse business. We have to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I wouldn't have it any other way."
(Shenandoah Downs)