The sound of a bugle playing the call to the post is common prior to a horse race. But when the pacers head to the track for Saturday’s Tony Dandeo Memorial Series final at Freehold Raceway, horse owner August “Augie” Santore might hear an accordion instead.
Santore will send out DLs Big Elvis in the Tony Dandeo Memorial, named in memory of the trainer and history-making driver who was a Freehold regular. Santore and Dandeo were friends since their childhood days in Berkeley Heights, N.J., and harness racing partners from the mid-1970s until the time of Dandeo’s passing in September.
Dandeo, who won his first race in 1964 at Freehold, was victorious in the final start of his career at the same track in August with Santore-owned female pacer Stick That Lip Out. In the process, Dandeo, who six days earlier turned 86, became the oldest driver to win a race in New Jersey harness racing history. The previous oldest driver was 83-year-old George McCandless in 1994, also at Freehold.
“I told him I was going to get him that record and gave him some opportunities in the past several years,” Santore said. “This horse had been racing over her head but was dropping down in class and was in a good spot. I told him I didn’t care what post she got, just send her (to the front) and hold on. Tony did his job, and she did her job. It was great.”
Santore said Dandeo grew up with riding horses and as a teenager found a job in harness racing at a nearby farm. After Dandeo moved to the Freehold area to focus on driving and training, Santore got involved as a horse owner.
“We had horses on and off through the years,” Santore said. “He didn’t want to train anything he wasn’t driving. If he trained them, he drove them. He was a hard-headed person. But he was a funny guy, a good guy. He would give you anything.”
One of Santore’s favorite memories of a Dandeo win, at least prior to last year, came in 1992 when Gypsy’s Caper went from last-to-first in the final quarter-mile to win at odds of 53-1 at Freehold. The field included Biba Fra, who the following year won the Nihilator Series and finished second to eventual Horse of the Year Award-winner Staying Together in the Canadian Pacing Derby.
“Tony won a lot of races for me,” Santore said. “He gave a horse everything he had to get there. We had a lot of fun through the years.”
But what about the accordion?
Dandeo was an accomplished accordion player. While growing up in Berkely Heights, he often could be found playing on the corner in the evenings with friends gathered around to listen. And he continued to play the instrument throughout his life.
“He taught accordion, as a matter of fact,” Santore said. “He was talented. I’d go to his house and listen. We would go to New York and buy sheet music. We would be on the telephone, and he’d say, ‘Listen to this.’ And he would play, and I would listen. He knew how to play.”
After Dandeo passed away, Santore and his friends were uncertain what to do with the accordion. That changed when one of the friends went to meet a gentleman interested in buying Dandeo’s car.
“He goes to the guy’s house, and the guy is playing the accordion,” Santore said. “The guy said he had been playing for over 50 years. We told him about Tony’s accordion and offered it to him. He said he would take it, that he loved to play the accordion.
“It gets even better. My last name is not like Smith or Jones. This guy’s name was Santore. Are you kidding me? Really? A guy that buys Tony’s car, he plays an accordion, and his name is the same as mine. I couldn’t believe it. What are the odds of that? It’s easier to hit the lottery. It’s absolutely unbelievable.”
Somewhat incredible, too, is Santore’s involvement in the Dandeo Memorial Series. Santore claimed DLs Big Elvis only two weeks prior to Freehold announcing the creation of the series and the six-year-old gelding turned out to be his only horse to fit the conditions for the event, which consisted of two preliminary rounds ahead of Saturday’s $11,000 final.
“I thought, that’s got to be an omen,” Santore said. “Then I go out and win the first leg (on March 26 in 1:58.4) and now we’re in the final. I was happy just to compete in it, but I’d like to win it for him. That would be great.
“We miss him.”
DLs Big Elvis will start from post two with Tyler Miller driving for trainer John Wyatt. The gelding is 10-1 on the morning line. Northern Baccarat, with Pat Lachance driving for Paul Stafford, is the 5-2 favourite.
Live harness racing begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT at Freehold.
(USTA)