By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
As a child, Ken Jacobs ate up movies like “The Black Stallion” and admired their graceful, galloping stars from afar.
“I just love horses. They’re beautiful animals,” Jacobs said. “I just enjoy to see them race.”
These days, Jacobs gets to admire his favorite animal up close, and he’s not the only one enjoying the show. Since 1993, Jacobs has purchased and sold hundreds of harness racing horses, many of them winners.
The most recent victor in his collection is Walner, a 2-year-old colt who won seven out of eight races in the Breeders Crown at the Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky, last October. Walner’s time of 1:51.3 set a world record for trotting colts in his age class.
“I’ve had a lot of good horses,” Jacobs said, “but to have the best in the world is pretty special.”
Jacobs, the owner of KJ Electric, has lived in Baldwinsville since 1959. He and his wife, Rita — “She loves getting her picture taken in the winners’ circle,” Jacobs said — have four children and 14 grandchildren, many of whom share a love of harness racing with the patriarch. The kids and grandkids often accompany Jacobs to races and awards dinners.
Aug. 5 is circled on the Jacobs family calendar this year. It’s the date of the Hambletonian Stakes, a major harness racing event that Walner is favored to win. The “Hambo” takes place at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Jacobs is hoping Walner will follow in his sire’s hoofsteps.
“His father was a champion, Chapter Seven,” Jacobs said.
Chapter Seven was voted United States Horse of the Year in 2012 and came fourth in the Hambletonian Stakes in 2011.
“That’s what I’m pointing Walner for,” Jacobs said of the Hambletonian. “It’s a million dollar race.”
Jacobs keeps his finger on the pulse of the standardbred world to ensure that he purchases the best of the best. He regularly visits farms to inspect foals with potential, watches videos of horses’ performance and researches the bloodlines of his future champions.
“You wonder how I keep being able to pick the top horses each year. I do a lot of research, a lot of homework,” Jacobs said. “[Farms] send me the videos on all the horses. They know I’m an astute owner.”
Jacobs said each horse has its own personality, and he looks for the tough guys in the stable.
“There’s always a dominant one — he kicks everybody around. That’s the one I want,” he said. “They have to have an attitude. When they have an attitude, they’re usually in the top echelon.”
Walner fit the bill. Jacobs purchased the colt, then a yearling, for $90,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale in 2015. A year later, Walner won the Breeders Crown. Currently, the 2-year-old is hard at work at the Pinehurst Training Center in North Carolina.
The colt is in good hands with his trainer, Linda Toscano, who also trained Chapter Seven. In 2012, Toscano became the first female trainer to win the Hambletonian with the victory of Market Share.
Jacobs has worked with Toscano since 2005. Horse racing, he explained, is a male-dominated sport, and other horse owners wouldn’t give Toscano a chance.
“She is the best female trainer in the world, the way she brings the horses to the races,” Jacobs said. “I like to give people a chance.”
When Jacobs learned that Toscano was battling breast cancer, he was willing to wait.
“[I said], ‘When you feel strong enough, let me know and I’ll give you horses to train,’” he recalled.
Toscano took Jacobs up on the offer after she finished her treatment.
“I started giving her the best horses I had and we’ve been very successful,” Jacobs said.
In 2005, Toscano’s training led Rita J (named after Jacobs’ wife) to a slew of victories with winnings totaling nearly $200,000. Kenneth J, who shares a name with the owner and his grandson, racked up $1.5 million over his racing career and sired more than 80 racehorses.
When asked if racing horses is an expensive hobby, Jacobs replied, “If you don’t win.”
While many harness racing enthusiasts keep massive stables, with trainers managing 200 horses at a time, Jacobs tries to fly under the radar with his smaller team of about 20.
“I’m up against a lot of owners that are buying 80 horses and 60 horses [every year]. I don’t buy that many. I buy usually around five each year,” Jacobs said.
Since his smaller purchases allow him to maintain a lower profile, Jacobs’ wins seem to come out of nowhere. His competitors usually have never even heard of Baldwinsville.
“Little old Kenny from B’ville is beating ‘em all. That’s what I love,” he said.
However, with Walner pegged as a favorite for the Hambletonian, Jacobs has lost some of his anonymity. He said he likely will sell Walner after next year because many other standardbred owners are clamoring for the colt.
Jacobs isn’t just popular for his winning horses. The standardbred world has noticed that he’s a friendly guy, too. This past December, the Monticello-Goshen chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association presented Jacobs with the John Gilmour Good Guy Award “for his affable demeanor and industrial longevity.”
When he’s not narrowing down his next purchase or traveling to see his horses to victory, Jacobs said he enjoys spending time at home in Baldwinsville.
“It’s homey and it’s a good place to bring your children,” he said. “It’s just a nice town.”
Jacobs also likes to share his racing winnings with local charitable causes. He doesn’t want credit for his generosity; he just wants to give back.
“Everywhere I know people need help, I know they’re getting it,” Jacobs said. “I think the big guy up there helped me, so I’ve got to help other people.”
