In harness racing, you can’t talk about a Hurrikane horse without also mentioning John McDermott. And it all started with a Donerail trotter named Hurri Kane Billy G.
“All the Hurrikane horses are named after him, Hurri Kane Billy G.” McDermott described the process, “The horse was named after my son Kane, who my sister referred to as a Hurricane. My partner, Billy Garofalo...his son was Billy G. So we named that horse Hurri Kane Billy G. And that was my favourite horse that I ever had."
Hurri Kane Billy G was no slouch either, earning $310,796 and taking a 1:53 mark back when that meant something.
No stranger to the winner's circle either, McDermott has won more than 600 races and $8.7 million as a horse trainer. But McDermott also spent 10 years working as a police officer.
“I served in Summit, NJ, Sunrise, FL and Roxbury, NJ...I bounced around. I told everybody that I got out of the police game because I had a terminal illness: the horses,” McDermott said with a laugh. “That’s my terminal illness.”
McDermott clarified, “I did try to get out of the business once. It was the worse month of my life. I was working as a cop down in Florida and my wife said, ‘Why don’t you just go and claim a horse?’”
Heeding his wife Nancy’s advice, McDermott went to Pompano Park and used his Discover card to claim a pacer that same night. And he has been at it ever since.
Now a resident of Goshen, a living on Parkway, the street that overlooks the backstretch, McDermott enjoys his ’50-yard’ commute to work each morning. Training 20 horses and walking to work looks good on the 6’2” McDermott, whose brother Kevin is also an accomplished horse trainer.
“For 20 years I lived two minutes from the Meadowlands,” recalled McDermott. “But when they closed the backstretch, I was commuting to the farms in New Jersey every day. It was crazy...the traffic, the tolls. It was a nightmare.”
McDermott went to Florida for a few years, staying in hotels during the summer in the Northeast. That got to be too much as well. Finally, he got an invitation from Ray Schnittker to check out Goshen.
Married to his wife Nancy for 31 years, they raised three children: Shannon (28), Johnny (27) and Kane (25).
“It was the best move I ever made. Ray and I get along real well and it’s a great facility. It’s great to have somebody to rely on when you need help. The people are nice, the track is good. I love it here.”
When the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association holds their 62nd annual Awards Banquet on Sunday, Dec. 12, John McDermott will receive the chapter’s John Gilmour Good Guy Award.
This year, in addition to the year-end awards for horses and horsepeople from the local tracks, the Monticello-Goshen chapter will also honour Russell Williams (Lifetime Achievement Award); Joe Faraldo (John Manzi Leadership Award); Bob Miecuna (Excelsior Award); Eric Taddeo (Cradle of the Trotter Breeders Award); Eddie Glick (Amy Bull Crist Distinguished Service Award); John Hernan (Phil Pines Award); Marianna Monaco (Amateur Driver); McGwire Sowers (Rising Star); and Susanne McManus & Mike Rivera (Mighty M Awards of Appreciation).
Tickets for the gala event at the Wallkill Golf Club, Middletown, New York, can be reserved by contacting Shawn Wiles at 845-794-4100 ext. 458 or by email at [email protected].
(With files from Monticello-Goshen Chapter of USHWA)