The members of the United States Harness Writers Association Upstate New York Chapter are proud to announce that Ben Webster and Patsy C. Rapone will be installed in the Upstate New York Harness Racing Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2011 representing Batavia Downs.
Webster and the family of Rapone will be presented their Empire Pinnacle Crystal Awards to mark the occasion, trackside on Saturday, September 10 at Batavia Downs.
Webster is a home-grown Western New York racing legend. He lived in Hilton, NY and got his first driving win at the age of 16 at the Hemlock Fair; both a mere 25 miles from Batavia Downs. But that incipient stage of his development would later see a 47-year career unfold on the biggest stages of the sport, as Webster would go on to win the Hambletonian, the Little Brown Jug and the Kentucky Futurity.
Webster, aka 'The Master of the Half-Mile' and 'Benny The Whip,' would win his first pari-mutuel race at Buffalo Raceway in 1958. He competed on the Western New York circuit until 1965 when he decided to relocate at Yonkers and Roosevelt Raceway. Webster joined what many believe was the greatest driver colony ever, competing against legends like Billy Haughton, Carmine Abbatiello, Buddy Gilmour, Del Insko and John Chapman.
In 1975, Webster won the Little Brown Jug with a little known three-year-old gelding named Seatrain (1:55 $825,006). Just a week before the big stakes event, he set a World Record for a three-year-old pacing gelding on a half-mile track at Batavia Downs and that prompted his trainer to enter him in the Jug.
In 1976, Webster purchased Oil Burner (1:54.2 $535,541) from Stanley Dancer and went on to win several major races, including the Oliver Wendell Holmes and Monticello-OTB Classic. After he retired, Oil Burner was later syndicated for $2.7 million. Webster retained 40 per cent of one of his first and most successful foals, No Nukes (1:52.1 $572,430) No Nukes went on to even greater success in the breeding shed and was one of only six $100 million sires in the sport.
Webster went on to win the 1981 Messenger Stakes with Seahawk Hanover (1:55.2 $675,122), the 1984 Hambletonian with Historic Freight (1:57 $668,392) and the 1985 Kentucky Futurity with one of his favourite horses, Flak Bait (1:55.2 $880,576).
In a career which spanned six decades, Benny The Whip Webster won 4,378 races and his horses earned purses of $43,197,645.
Born and raised in Caledonia, New York, Rapone came from a harness racing family; just about every relative was involved in the sport in some capacity. His father, Lou Rapone, was a national training and driving force from the 1950s right through the 1970s and amassed 2,069 wins in his career. So it was no surprise when Rapone left high school to go work with his dad taking care of the horses. He started driving at age 21 at Batavia Downs in 1974.
Although he became one of the most proficient local drivers in Western New York harness racing history, his career found success all over the country. He had won driving championships at Buffalo Raceway, Batavia Downs, Northfield Park, the Meadows and Pompano Park. He was always pursued to drive top flight stock including the likes of K Ds Precious (1:56 $211,042), Blackwater JK (1:56.4 $184,121) and many horses for the then formidable Rama Farms. But Rapone will probably most be remembered for his handling of the great trotter Manfred Hanover (1:55.2 $898,329).
Known as the 'Don Juan' of harness racing, Manfred Hanover’s success on the track was a result of his unorthodox lifestyle between races. He was a castoff trotter that drank Gatorade, raced the same day he was breeding mares, and competed successfully without training for most of his career. Rapone had a great rapport with the champion and drove him all over the east coast competing against the best Open trotters there were.
One of the biggest races Rapone competed in at his hometown track (Batavia Downs) came in 1993 where he steered Night Court Dan (1:55.4 $1,401,243) in the $60,000 Provenzano Trot, where he finished behind Earl (1:54.2 $984,318) and Chris Christoforou in a track record time.
During his short career, Patsy C. Rapone won 2,643 races and $5.8 million in purse money. He died of brain cancer on May 16, 1996 at the age of 42.
(USHWA)