Robert Stepien’s “day job” is as a sergeant with the Nevada Highway Patrol in Reno, Nevada. He has worked street patrol, Internal Affairs, personnel
and currently supervises the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division. Now the married father of two will be one of the four local pilots taking on the invaders in next month’s East-West Amateur Driving Challenge, and he certainly has one of the more interesting resumes among this group.
“I got into harness racing through my Uncle, Frank Scheetz, and I was about 10 when I started working with him,” related Stepien. “He was a trainer in New Jersey and raced at the Meadowlands, Liberty Bell, Brandywine and Dover. He had a farm with a natural pond on it. He built a dock and swam many horses. When you’re 12 years old, swimming horses in sub-freezing temperatures is quite a daunting task, but maybe that’s why now I can jog horses through six inches of snow in Reno.
“It started out with small tasks on the farm and slowly graduating to jogging, training, wrapping legs, etc. I swam many of the horses during those times. We had many late nights racing at the Meadowlands, driving long hours pulling the horse trailer and maybe that’s why I can drive from Reno to Sacramento every weekend without a
problem.”
Robert’s uncle was quite well known in the Northeast racing community, and this gave his nephew access to paddocks and behinds the scenes locations.
“I was fortunate enough to listen to conversations between my uncle and some of the biggest drivers of the time, like John Campbell, Mike Lachance and William O’Donnell. In my early teens, I was in charge of the care of many expensive race horses. My Uncle never made me feel like something was beyond my capabilities. He taught me the basics and allowed me to fail and learn. I owe a lot to him. I was able to work with horses all week and then watch them perform on the track. I was hooked.”
Fate soon intervened, as Stepien’s father, a Colonel in the Marine Corps, got transferred to Hawaii and Robert graduated high school and lost contact with harness racing for many years. During this time, his Uncle died tragically in a car accident while making a late night drive from the Meadowlands.
“He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and the whole event touched me deeply from a personal and professional perspective,” he explained. “I joined the Honolulu Police Department in 1990 and transferred to the Nevada Highway Patrol in 1999. While in Reno, I started thinking of those childhood days and how much fun it was.
“As an adult I was able to realize that harness racing with my Uncle had matured me and allowed me to do things the average kid wasn’t able to do. In 2004, we went to the California State Fair at Cal Expo. I saw that they had harness racing and was just dumbfounded. I thought this is my opportunity to connect with the sport again. I did some internet research and hooked up with Dave Siegel. He told me about the amateur program and got me in contact with trainer Chris Hernandez.
“Chris was so generous and allowed me to start working with his horses. Chris gave me a horse named Theoras Fella, and he’s the one I used to practice on and used to get my qualifying drives with. He helped me get back into the game, connected me to people on the track and brought out some old skills. I was able to get licensed and here I am. To this day Chris helps me out tremendously and it has developed into a solid friendship. He is one of the most generous guys I’ve ever met.”
Stepien currently has three horses, and they are stabled at his home in Reno. They jog in a hillside path at the end of the road, sharing the area with dirt bikes and ATV’s. “The horses love the outdoors and the elevation,” he explained.
“Sometimes it can be overwhelming to work my job and take care of racehorses and my family, but that two minutes on the track during the race makes it all worth it. It’s in my blood and I don’t think it will ever leave me. I’m thankful that there is racing in Sacramento and even if this were to end today, I’m grateful that I had an opportunity to relive a childhood dream and finally race and train in pari-mutuel events.
“I want to say I couldn’t do this without the patience of my wife Pamela, and also there isn’t a start that goes by that my uncle doesn’t come into my mind. Hopefully he is watching from somewhere, smiling that he produced a decent horseman.”
(Cal-Expo)