Thomas "Tom" Cleveland Long, longtime New England horseman, passed away on Wednesday, June 4 at the age of 81 after a courageous battle with Glioblastoma.
Mr. Long was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts at the Cape Cod Hospital. After attending grammar school and graduating from Barnstable High School in 1962, he married the love of his life, Diane, in April of 1969. They were married for 56 years at the time of his passing while living an inseparable life surrounded by their horses.
In the early years of their marriage, Mr. Long was an oil burner technician and ran his own business for several years until they decided to go to Florida for the winter to race their Standardbred horses. When they returned north in the spring, they got involved in racing full time and travelled up and down the east coast from 1979 until 2020 making lifelong friends at the racetracks and all their stops along the way.
Aside from racing, Mr. Long drove the starting gate for many years at Pompano Park. He also ran the starting gate on the training side for the young horses to school behind. Because of his great work with the babies, Mr. Long received many compliments from trainers like Stanley Dancer, Tommy Haughton, Dave and Jim Rankin, and Bill Popfinger, to name a few. He also drove the starting gate for races in Rochester, New Hampshire, Plymouth, New Hampshire and Rutland, Vermont.
Mr. Long was a member of the United States Trotting Association, the International Trotters and Pacing Association and the Bay State Trotters Club of Lakeville, Massachusetts, where he served in the positions of president, director, starting judge and announcer for the races.
Besides racing Standardbreds, Mr. Long and wife Diane, owned miniature horses for many years. Themed with country music, the Longs loved putting on shows with their miniature horses and were very much in demand for many years.
Sunny was their main star, especially after having performed on the NBC Today Show and America’s Got Talent, in addition to having made television appearances in Miami, Florida and Rockingham, New Hampshire. Sunny also had a contract to perform at Canobie Lake Amusement Park for two seasons. They also performed at nursing homes, birthday parties and in the summer, on Main Street in Hyannis, Massachusetts during town celebrations.
For all their shows, Mr. Long was the emcee and in charge of the music while Diane was on stage with Sunny as assistant. The Longs loved to see everyone happy and enjoying themselves and Mr. Long loved to tell some jokes when you least expected it.
For their 55th wedding anniversary in 2024, the Longs celebrated in February, because Mr. Long had received his cancer diagnosis in January and was given only four months. They renewed their vows in front of family and friends and ride into their niece’s arena on horseback with their miniature horses, Sunny being the best man or horse in this case and Casper as ring bearer.
A celebration of life for Me. Long will be held on Wednesday, June 25, at a family home at 64 Willimantic Drive, Marstons Mills, Massachusetts from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. There has been a GoFundMe account set up to help with medical, funeral and living expenses during this difficult time.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Tom Long.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)