To hear Mike Micallef tell it, the relocation of his training and driving endeavours to South Florida could not be going any better than they are
“When I first decided to race at Pompano for the 2010-2011 season it was largely a lifestyle choice and it’s met my expectations and gone well beyond,” said the 37-year-old horseman. “Just for starters, a few years ago I moved from the Hazel Park, Northville Downs, Windsor and Ontario circuit to race at the New York tracks. I was making a decent living but there was a big toll to pay. Most weeks I was commuting from home at Port Jervis, New York to any and all of Monticello, Yonkers, Saratoga and occasionally at The Meadowlands. I was logging about 1,700 miles per week. Here at Pompano I now have a life which is way better for family time with my wife Anita and our son who is turning four years old this week.”
Micallef is a career winner of almost 1,700 races in the bike for almost $10 million in purses. He brought a 12-horse string to Florida this Fall which he may add to at the Harrisburg, PA sale. The record shows he has almost 270 lifetime training wins for over $2.3 million.
In the top classes in the first month of the meet, Micallef has made his presence felt in a big way. With the top class pacers he has hard hitters in Dragons Blood and Bill On The Hill A to go along with top class pacing mare Princess Michi. In the past week alone Micallef has won six times and last Saturday night he competed in all but one race on the card.
Originally from Dearborn Heights, Michigan, he created a lot of fanfare when starting out on the Detroit-Windsor circuit. Twenty years ago he was the subject of a feature story by reporter John Gross on the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news on Detroit’s ABC-TV flagship station, WXYZ.
“I remember it very well and they filmed me while I was schooling one for Doug McIntosh behind the gate at Windsor Raceway,” said Micallef. “I felt really special to be getting that much attention when I was just starting out. My parents still live in Canton, Michigan and my mother closely guards that tape. Like a lot of the guys from up north that come to Florida, my family and I are really enjoying the fact we’ve been able to trade in our snow shovel for a sand shovel. That, in addition to the fact that I fill up the truck with gas once every three weeks now instead of almost every day.”
(Pompano Park)