Harness racing is typically a sport that has rural roots and its participants are usually males carrying on a family tradition that was started before they were even born. Most trainers and drivers had someone in their family or a close friend that took them under their wing, showed them the ropes and helped them get a start in the business.
However, trainer Kim Sloan had a much different entry into harness racing. She was born into a Cleveland, Ohio urban family that had never owned or cared for a horse. Although knowing virtually nothing about horses, Sloan’s father and grandparents were fans of the sport and were often rooting for their picks on the grandstand apron of Northfield Park.
As a child, Sloan was at Northfield many times, but never on the backstretch.
“I was usually running around the grandstand with the other kids picking up losing tickets off the ground,” said Sloan.
Being present in the excitement of a racetrack fostered an affection for horses that has grown throughout Sloan’s life.
Sloan entered the workforce immediately after graduating in 1981 from the Cleveland City School System. She secured employment at a title insurance company in downtown Cleveland. However, searching titles was not her passion, so Sloan went to a horse auction at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in 1992 and purchased two yearling fillies, Aint That A Dame and Takin Chances.
“Everyone I talked to told me to get a horse that was already racing and not to buy yearlings. But I wanted to learn how to train a horse from the start,” said Sloan. “I thought that buying a horse that was already racing would be like sitting down in a theatre in the middle of a movie. I bought yearlings because I wanted to learn from the ground up.”
Sloan feels fortunate to have been initially stabled next to Dan Kirkwood at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea, Ohio.
“I tried to be observant and ask a lot of questions,” explained Sloan. “Dan was always willing to guide me.”
Even though Sloan asked questions and tried to learn from fellow trainers, “My biggest tool was the book Care & Training of the Trotter & Pacer," she said. "I read it religiously, especially the chapter written by Stanley Dancer. That book was like my Bible.”
Sloan’s first race was in October 1995 with Aint That A Dame. It resulted in a seventh-place finish, beaten 25-1/2 lengths for a $1,600 purse at Northfield Park. Her first win was the following August at the Cuyahoga County Fair with a pacing mare named Botton Line in 2:05.3.
Since the beginning, Sloan has kept a small stable. Her starters have posted 233 wins and have earnings approaching $1 million. However, in January she joined forces with Fred Peters, owner of Pod Stable LLC. She now trains six for her new owner, as well as two others, and for the first time is truly looking to grow the stable.
“You have to keep going one race at a time and continuously evaluate where you are going and what you need to do,” said Sloan. “In this business, many changes need to be made along the way.”
Her most recent victory came with the Pod Stable's Fluff Me Up at Northfield Park on Monday (August 24) in the $13,000 Open Trot where the four-year-old gelding won by seven and a half lengths in 1:54.2. The clocking was not only a track record, but it equalled the world record for his age, sex and gate on a half-mile track.
“It was his first start without trotting hopples,” said Sloan. “I have wanted to take the hopples off for quite a while, but to do so you have to miss a week of racing to re-qualify. Timing worked out to take them off because he was not going to race for a week. I could not be happier with him. I have never had a win like this before.”
(With files from Northfield Park)