A lifetime in harness racing has rewarded Molly D’Agostino with deep fulfillment - and all she asks in return is that the breed that has given so much to her, and to the industry she loves, be granted more chapters in their life stories.
It’s that heartfelt passion that drives the New York-born D’Agostino’s work with MMXX Standardbreds - a not-for-profit she founded in 2020 dedicated to showcasing and rehoming retired Standardbreds. All it took was a family-favourite $4,000 claimer, a simple comment, and a perceptive mind. By Matthew Lomon.
“We had a horse named Fox Valley Photog, who we got as a three-year-old, and he barely paid his way through life,” said D’Agostino with a laugh, in reference to the chestnut by Vaporize who made 308 lifetime starts (35-42-41; $144,532) and took his mark of 1:55.3 at age 14.
“The horse was low energy, he didn’t really like it [racing], but I love this horse. So, we kept him racing in the bottom classes in hopes that he would at least cover his feed bill. We raced him until he was 14 and then retired him in 2020.”
A pivotal year for D’Agostino and MMXX - 2020 in Roman numerals - in more ways than one.
“I was living in Connecticut at the time, and I built a little barn to move him home… that’s kind of how all this started.
“I wanted to break him to ride because there’s no horse racing in Connecticut. My neighbour, who is big into Quarter Horses, said, ‘This horse is really fancy’. I didn’t know what that meant at that point because I was a racing person, but she mentioned that I should consider making him a show horse.”
And that is what D’Agostino did.
With help from her neighbour, the career harness horsewoman broke Fox Valley Photog as a riding horse. Not long after, she entered him in his first competition - the 2021 National Standardbred Horse Show.
A late summer staple in New Jersey since 1995, the show is produced cooperatively by the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of New Jersey (SPHO-NJ), the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey (SBOA-NJ) and the United States Trotting Association (USTA).
Standardbreds from across the United States travel to compete in over 40 classes, open only to the breed.
Fox Valley Photog was a natural from the outset.
“He performed well, which prompted me to continue showing him at other shows that were open to all breeds, and he was great,” said D’Agostino.
“He was winning all the time, and I had tons of people coming up to me and asking, ‘Hey, what is this horse? Is it a Morgan? Is it this, is it that?’ My answer was ‘he’s a Standardbred,’ and they would say, ‘Where can we get one?’”
That conversation inspired D’Agostino’s new mission with MMXX Standardbreds - to become a pioneering adoption program for retired pacers and trotters.
Her winning formula with Fox Valley Photog, who in 2023 was crowned SPHO United States Horse of the Year, and the attention it commanded from non-Standardbred people in a space not typically reserved for the breed, unlocked a new path - and world of opportunity for D’Agostino.
“I didn’t really put two and two together about adoptions until we got the horse [Fox Valley Photog] showing, and people were offering me incredible amounts for him - much more than what he would have brought taking the Amish route, or just for a claimer, which is what he was.
“People were taking interest in him because he had a really nice gait, great temperament, and was kicking their butts in the scoring (laughing). So, they said, ‘Okay, if we can’t beat him, we’ll join him.’”
Fox Valley Photog’s role on the front lines, though invaluable, represents only half of the MMXX adoption program’s origin story however.
In 2021, D’Agostino received a phone call notifying her that one of her former trotters, Bandini, also a $4,000 claimer, was in a kill pen in Pennsylvania.
Before the bay son of Yankee Glide–Eurica left D’Agostino’s care she had helped break him for a riding career as a means to secure him a stable home, which, prior to the unnerving phone call, she believed she had.
To her disbelief, that was not the case.
“When you get the call that your horse is in a kill pen - some people don’t understand - but when you have personal connections and you have these smaller stables, you want to save the horse - you want to do everything you can.”
D’Agostino, confronted with a situation she had never before encountered or hoped to experience, pulled out all the stops to bring Bandini home.
“Going through that was a terrible ordeal because I loved that horse, and he was a great horse for us. He’s just a really, really sweet horse.
“He was emaciated, he had strangles; it was a mess. I didn’t know what to do. Luckily, a non-profit stepped in and helped me put the pieces together, but it was an expensive process, getting him back and going through all the steps.”
D’Agostino’s willingness to do whatever it took to rescue Bandini from peril not only spoke volumes about her character, and fierce advocacy for Standardbreds, but provided all the validation she needed to take MMXX to the next level.
“When I got him back and brought him to Connecticut, he ended up being a lovely show horse too. This was within three or four months of me having him,” she added. “I got him in May of 2021, and he was showing that August. He wasn’t quite on Fox’s level, but he showed very well - very consistent.
“At that point, it spoke to me that if I have a four-claimer and a kill pen horse, and both of them can do this, why can’t more do this?”
Driven by their success stories with Fox Valley Photog and Bandini, D’Agostino seized the opportunity to grow MMXX into a travelling National Show Team that competes 15-20 times each year.
Between her connections in racing, rehoming and adoption initiatives, and newfound prowess on the show circuit, D’Agostino has created an integrated pipeline for accomplishing one of MMXX’s foundational goals: reshaping the narrative around the Standardbred breed in the show world.
“The primary reason is not only to win, we love to win, but it’s also to demonstrate to the riding folks that everything they thought Standardbreds weren’t, they actually are.
“We use the travelling show team to market the breed in their second career, in hopes that people see these horses and say, ‘Hey, I want one.’
Showcasing Standardbreds in show riding circles has done just that.
In less than two years, MMXX has facilitated over 300 adoptions to find horses their forever homes.
With more eyes on the breed beyond racing, D’Agostino has been able to highlight the qualities that uniquely equip Standardbreds for successful second careers.
“The biggest thing that we get [out to people] is that their brain can’t be beat. They’re really safe horses, they don’t spook, and it’s because the harness racing people do an amazing job breaking their horses,” she praised.
“I always tell show-people that a DIY person can break a Standardbred to ride. It’s not like you’re getting a fresh Mustang or a horse who has never done anything before. These horses are extensively trained - their two-year-old years are at the racetrack - all you have to do is hop on and go. It really is that easy.”
While skeptics persist in questioning Standardbreds’ mental acuity, physical traits, and show-ring capabilities, D’Agostino says the amount of praise they now receive at shows vastly outweighs the criticism.
When the doubters do come knocking, however, her answer is always the same.
“Well, I can tell you until the day is young, but if you don’t believe me, I’m just going to have to show you.”
The MMXX way has been on full display through its National Show Team, which has more than doubled in size since its inception in 2022. What started with three horses has since expanded to a present-day total of eight.
Among the new additions, two, in particular, have helped propel the MMXX team to a new stratum.
The duo of 2014 Battle of Waterloo winner Go Daddy Go and World Champion trotter Homicide Hunter, who delivered a 1:48.4 mile in the 2018 Allerage Farms Open Trot at The Red Mile, took very different routes to the MMXX roster, but each have been equally pivotal to the team’s progress.
Bred, raised, and raced in Canada by the late Bob McIntosh - a dual Hall of Famer - Go Daddy Go [p,1:50.1h; $632,413] found himself in a similar situation to fellow MMXX member Bandini, before D’Agostino caught wind.
“He was in a dealer lot in Ohio or somewhere in the Midwest, and we teamed up with New Start Standardbreds, who stepped in because he was Canadian, to help get him out,” recalled Molly, who was effusive in her praise for the Ontario-based outfit, adding the rescue wouldn’t have been possible without their efforts.
“It was just some place where horses go to die, and if they didn’t sell him, he was going to go to the Amish.”
The chestnut son of Ponder-Sanfrancine had ‘XYZ’ ligament issues and other ailments, creating a heightened sense of urgency to accelerate the extrication.
With New Start aiding their fundraising efforts, MMXX was able to collect enough money to retrieve Go Daddy Go in the fall of 2022.
Footing the bill herself, D’Agostino sent the decorated pacer to Florida to see a surgeon specializing in his specific ligament issues, where he would also undergo rehabilitation following the procedure.
In April of 2023, D’Agostino brought Go Daddy Go home. One month later, he competed in his first show.
And now, just over two years later, his image adorns the cover of TROT Magazine.
“Once he was sound and good enough to start, we started him up, and within two or three weeks he was ready,” said D’Agostino. “Some horses are exceptionally athletic, and they want to win. Anything you point them at, they do great, and he’s one of them.”
Go Daddy Go capped his rookie year on the show circuit by earning two SPHO titles: National Two-Gait Reserve Champion and National Year-End Rookie Grand Champion.
All that, however, was just the appetizer for a historic sophomore campaign.
The ascending show star made a lasting impression on judges, and fellow competitors around the United States, to become, in 2024, the second MMXX horse in as many years to claim SPHO United States Horse of the Year honours.
“That was really a great achievement for him, and such a story to be able to come back from the terrible place he was in,” said D’Agostino. “He’s fantastic, and one of the best that I think we’ll ever have.”
Even if the success went to his head just a little.
“And of course, he has an ego the size of the house, which is funny because he didn’t know that he was this close to a dire situation, and that’s what made it great,” D’Agostino added fondly.
“Everywhere he went, people wanted to take pictures with him. They wanted to meet him. It was a really great thing. We had a QR code of his [2014] Breeders Crown elimination win on his door anywhere we went. It was an amazing experience.”
Today, Go Daddy Go moonlights at a few shows here and there, but his days of barrel racing, jumping, and everything in between are largely behind him. As D’Agostino put it, the pensioner has earned it.
“He’s done all he needs to do in this life. He’s living his best life as a trail pony.”
Taking the competitive reins from Go Daddy Go is a horse who once dominated the Grand Circuit, the fastest trotter in harness racing history, Homicide Hunter.
Renowned for his incredible on-track feats, highlighted by a 2018 Breeders Crown victory and his aforementioned World Record, the bay son of Mr Cantab-Evening Prayer has a sterling resume which includes 41 racing wins, a Dan Patch Award (Older Male Trotter, 2018) and $1,768,280 in earnings.
Though still early, Homicide Hunter’s career under-saddle is shaping up to be just as promising.
“He’s probably going to be the best Standardbred we will ever have in this program, if I’m being honest,” said Molly.
“He’s taken to everything seamlessly. Judges love him. People love him. We were recently at a championship show where he swept everything he was in. We’ve had several friends of ours from Quarter Horse farms asking to ride him.”
The multi-talented 13-year-old’s journey to MMXX and the show riding circuit started at Crawford Farms in Durhamville, New York.
Crawford’s farm manager Heather Reese-Marshall, who grew up with D’Agostino, put her in contact with farm owner Michelle Crawford to discuss adopting some of their horses out.
The initial meeting would involve D’Agostino adding Monticello, a full brother to superstar trotting mare Atlanta, to her show team roster.
Instantly impressed with Molly, another lightbulb went off for Crawford.
“Molly just sets the bar so high, her program is really second to none,” said the longtime horsewoman and Standardbred advocate. “When I saw Monticello being ridden, and that he actually could do it, I thought that this was a really good opportunity for Homicide Hunter to step up and show what he’s made of too.
“He’s a true champion through and through.”
Crawford’s offer was welcomed with open arms.
“When Michelle approached me in December [2024] to say, ‘What if you brought Homicide Hunter to the team?’ My initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, yes! That would be so exciting to have history the barn.’”
With the wheels fully in motion, D’Agostino picked up Homicide Hunter on March 1st and got to work.
The champion trotter, although raw upon arrival, picked up the tricks of his new trade rather quickly, and was actually ready to compete some five weeks later.
“It was a very quick transition,” shared D’Agostino. “He really took to things well, very similar to Go Daddy Go - you know an athlete when you see one. He just wants to perform. He wants to do the job. He’s a very smart horse when it came to the training aspect, which is funny because he’s a little dopey on the ground, he’ll spook at anything, but under-saddle he’s all business.”
And business is booming.
“I believe he’s done eight or 10 shows so far, and he’s been absolutely mopping the floor, better than any horse I’ve ever had in terms of how we’re doing and how he’s performing right out of the gate,” said D’Agostino.
In just five months on the job, Homicide Hunter has cemented himself as one of the show world’s best, leading the race for SPHO Horse of the Year in 2025 under the piloting of riders Sydney Espinoza and Cameron Andruskiewicz.
Both Espinoza, who comes from a background in stock breed hunters, and Andruskiewicz, who finished fourth out of 14,000 competitors in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association Nationals, have been prized additions to the MMXX team as well, D’Agostino added.
For Crawford, watching her champion racehorse thrive in his new environment is a source of immense pride.
“It’s truly so much fun to watch. And the world is watching with me because I share every single thing on my social media. You’d think that I only have one horse, and it’s Homicide Hunter,” she laughed.
“He sets the bar. He was the definition of a champion on the track, and it shows here. It’s a mindset; that’s all I can say. He’s driven to do whatever, and succeed at what he does. He masters it.”
Between fresher faces in Homicide Hunter and Go Daddy Go, and foundational figures like Fox Valley Photog, MMXX is by no means short on brand ambassadors, but having a Homicide Hunter, who is a magnet for media coverage and public attention, has opened doors for D’Agostino to pursue her ambition of “pumping new blood” into the sport she loves most: harness racing.
“A big thing with Homicide is people love meeting him, taking pictures with him, similar to Go Daddy Go. But in this context, because he’s the world’s fastest trotter, we get a lot more questions about the racing side of things, which has opened up a new door for us to begin marketing to riding people,” she explained.
“This is kind of a third project that we’re working on, thanks to Homicide Hunter. Introducing people to the sport of harness racing, so they can understand why this horse is so special, and maybe become owners themselves.”
The onus doesn’t rest solely on Homicide Hunter’s shoulders though.
“Those three horses don’t look like what some riding people think Standardbreds look like. I was almost going to say they don’t look like Standardbreds, but they do, this is what Standardbreds look like.
“Their breeding is wonderful. They’re really athletic, strong horses. With these three we’ve been able to circulate pictures, photos, and all the videos that we do, to really help people think, ‘Oh my God, wait, I can have that too and for a very low cost?’”
Having these incredible horses - that D’Agostino lovingly refers to as ‘media assets’ - has proven integral when marketing the MMXX adoption program, which at this juncture, stands as the outfit’s primary goal.
Through its ground-breaking rehoming initiative, D’Agostino and the folks at MMXX are able to connect their overarching goals into a clear course of action.
“The idea for MMXX when I started the adoption program, was not just to have adoptions. The end goal of what I do is to try and drive up the value of a Standardbred for a second career, other than just going to the Amish.
“When I’ve done my job, we’re hoping that a fresh off-track Standardbred is worth five, six, seven thousand dollars… to show-horse people,” she reasons.
Acutely aware of the financial considerations for their current owners, D’Agostino wants to provide Standardbred horsepeople with more options when they retire their stock, while still ensuring they are compensated appropriately.
“Ownership connections need the money - I can’t fault them for that. Especially where I’m from, a track like Vernon Downs is small, and people will go the Amish route because they need money to put dinner on the table.”
Having to ‘go the Amish route’ is something that Molly intends on changing where possible.
“I want to make sure that getting a decent dollar is still an option for them, but in a safer sort of sale profile for the horse. We’re hoping to drive the value of a Standardbred to what it could be, so that more [racing] people can make the right choice, and still get proper compensation for their choice, because these horses are worth something.”
Financial constraints, however, have also posed a significant obstacle for MMXX.
While the operation has taken on more sponsors each year, with Angel & Anchor Farm being a big one, and she remains eternally grateful for all their support, D’Agostino routinely foots the bill from her own pocket, for her passion project’s endeavours.
“It’s by far the biggest challenge for us,” said D’Agostino. “We take in around $50,000 a year, and friends of ours take two, three million a year.”
MMXX also does not receive additional funding from the United States Department of Agriculture or the USTA.
“None of the big players in this space has given us anything, and the reason for that, they say, is because we’re new - but we’re not new anymore,” explained D’Agostino. “I think once we hit 300 horses placed, that’s null.”
Crawford wants to see that change as well.
“I cannot say enough about Molly. I cannot say enough about her tenacity. She doesn’t get paid to do this. They rely on donations. It’s worth supporting, and I think as an industry I would expect, from the top-down, organizations should be stepping up and supporting her program.”
MMXX and D’Agostino have placed over 300 retired Standardbreds and counting. With more resources, that number will only continue to rise.
“We’re hoping that people out there believe in the cause, and are interested in sponsorship… we love to recognize those sponsors in any way possible, and rep them on all our stuff, merch, posts, marketing materials, at the shows, anything.
“The more resources we have, the better we can do. The end goal isn’t just adoptions and horse showing - the end goal is to hopefully create: a) A buyer profile for horses that’s going to pump more money back into harness racing, and b) Possibly more owners for the business.
“The sky is the limit with this program.”
Prospective sponsors can reach out to D’Agostino and the MMXX team via the program’s website - mmxxstbs.com - or email
[email protected] to learn more about their mission.
In the meantime, it’s business as usual for D’Agostino.
“My only goal is to wake up tomorrow and keep doing this.”
This feature originally appeared in the September issue of TROT Magazine. Subscribe to TROT today by clicking the banner below.
