Tiger a goodwill ambassador for harness racing
Submitted photo
Don Tiger, center, has been a goodwill ambassador for harness racing.
Submitted photo
Don Tiger has been a goodwill ambassador for the sport of harness racing.
Don Tiger has remained a goodwill ambassador for the sport of harness racing.
It was not until the last couple years that Don Tiger, local harness racing owner and all-around interesting guy, started to get his just due.
This Washington Countian is a financial planner and mortgage banker by trade.
He is so much more than that.
Ask “The Voice” – legendary harness racing announcer Roger Huston.
“I can’t put into words what Don’s done for harness racing as a goodwill ambassador,” Huston said, “He’s so ordinary, a common man. He loves harness racing and has a good perspective as an owner and as a fan.”
We have Huston to thank for it.
“I grew up 10 minutes from the Meadows. I went there when I was 14 years old,” Tiger said. “I was tall so I could get in. Roger Huston’s voice sucked me in. I was hooked. I went from hanging out in the grandstands to eventually hanging out in the barns.
“I have always been someone, who no matter what I get into, dives in with two feet. Whether it’s playing chess, learning a trade, or in this case, racing horses, I try to learn anything and everything. That’s how I got involved as a fan, backside worker and eventually an owner.”
Tiger started grooming horses at 14-years-old.
He remained involved as a handicapper, fan and groom. He worked with the late Pat Thomas, who was the second trainer for the Stillings stable at the time.
“I was able to be around some pretty good horse flesh,” Tiger said. “Eventually I got to that crossroads where I could go to college because I could dribble a basketball and I ended up getting an education, but I never got away from it. After college when I started making money with my day job, I started buying thoroughbreds, because that is when casinos first came in and West Virginia was one of the first places to have them.
“I applied everything I learned in the harness game to thoroughbreds and became a decent owner.”
Tiger began purchasing harness horses when the casinos came to Pennsylvania.
When he first started owning standardbreds in 2009, Tiger worked with partners. Soon he flew solo.
“Since I grew up on the backside, when a horse needed time off, I would give it to them, turn them out and be patient,” Tiger explained. “Sometimes partners aren’t as patient, and they want instant success. Being solo allowed me to run the stable more like I thought it should be run.”
Tiger, 52, is head strong and sure of decisions he has made in the sport.
Despite his local ties and living in Canonsburg, he doesn’t enter horses at The Meadows.
“The Meadows was built on night racing and attendance, when (it) switched to day-racing the handle went down, purses, etc…,” Tiger said. “They cut a bad deal, in my opinion. Ohio learned from that, and the casino revenues and racing times have remained consistent in putting a great product out there which has resulted in higher purses.”
Thrust into the spotlight
Tiger’s best horse – Charlie May – was disqualified after winning the 2021 Meadowlands Pace.
The fight rages on.
In February, Tiger confirmed that his appeal of the DQ, was filed with the courts against the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC). The disqualification of Charlie May from the victory July 17, 2021, in the $700,000 Meadowlands Pace at The Meadowlands, was upheld in court.
It is still not known if the NJRC will accept the decision. The $700,000 in purse money from 2021 that was paid out would all have to be collected and redistributed if the court findings stand.
Tiger was quoted as saying: “If they overturn my decision and by some miracle they give me the purse, I will give sixth through 10th $35,000, which is five percent,” said Tiger. “My reason for doing that is because it was a deluged track, and everybody deserves a payday. And the rest of the money I will give to charity. I’m not a rich guy. Understand that $350,000 is a life changer for me, but if they give me that miracle, I’m going to do the right thing and give it all to somebody else.”
In the 2021 Meadowlands Pace, which was contested on a “good” racetrack due to persistent rain, driver Brett Miller was second-over with Charlie May, following the cover of the Yannick Gingras-driven Southwind Gendry, who was challenging the leading Perfect Sting who was driven by David Miller.
Around the final turn it appeared Southwind Gendry took some extra steps, which led to Brett Miller moving Charlie May quickly right, where he was run into by the Dexter Dunn-driven Rockyroad Hanover, who made a break and then caused other trailing horses to also go off-stride.
Miller was able to regather Charlie May, who came roaring back to cross the wire first in 1:48.3, edging the Mark MacDonald-driven Lawless Shadow, who rallied late to catch Perfect Sting by a neck.
The judges posted an unofficial order of finish that showed the 14-1 Charlie May as the winner, but they also flashed the “inquiry” sign as they reviewed the incident in the far turn.
After several minutes, the Meadowlands’ tote board went dark and a new “official” order of finish was posted that showed Lawless Order as the winner, Perfect Sting second and Southwind Gendry third. Charlie May was placed ninth by the Meadowlands judges.
“It’s currently in appellate court,” Tiger said recently. “We feel we have a 90 percent chance of winning as the judge’s original opinion was sound and concise and the facts are undisputable as well as the video evidence, this case will change history forever, and the victory which be a huge step forward in the proper way races are adjudicated going forward.”
Charlie May, now a 5-year-old, has won 27 of 60 lifetime races and more than $2.02 million. Earlier this year, he set a lifetime mark of 1:47.1 in the William R. Haughton Memorial.
He also set a record winning the Gene Reigle Memorial at the Drake County Fair in Greenville, Ohio in August, going 1:50, easily breaking the previous mark of 1:51.4 by Swing City in 2017.
Charlie May has finished in the money in 48 of 60 races (.800).
Tiger to empty tank
The first horse Tiger bought by himself was Sam Hill, and he ended up making $700,000.
“He is really the keystone of the operation and afforded me the opportunity to keep buying on my own,” Tiger said. “It made it a little easier because I also had several horses at one point but now have only two.
“I’ve had a lot of fun and I’ve had a lot of success for such a small stable and sample that I’ve kind of made my mark and had my fun. I guess there is only so much magic in the bottle. I’ve had claimers that have done well, I’ve had stakes horses that have done well, and I feel a sense of accomplishment.
“I’m not retiring but I’ve scaled back because I feel like I’ve accomplished what I’ve needed to accomplish. I’m slowing down, which shocks most as I am still considered a relatively young guy in the sport.”
He’s also known as a good, honest and fair man.
“Don is really good to work for,” said Ben Lindsey, who has served as a caretaker for Tiger’s horses through the years. “He has good horses, he’s down to earth and reasonable.
“What he has done for Greenville, Ohio, and its fair is amazing. He’ll do anything to help anybody. He’s all about harness racing. Don is one of a kind generous. He treats me fairly. He’s just a good guy.”
Tiger, who played minor league baseball and had tryouts for major league teams and scouts, has his reasons for cutting back.
“I have three reasons for it,” Tiger said. “It’s kind of like winning the Super Bowl. My main horse, Charlie May, eclipsed $2 million dollars recently and has won major races in each of his four years of racing.
“I have accomplished everything I set out to do, personally. I look at it as it’s someone else’s turn. The regulatory bodies and rules are currently handled by the states, and they are all over the place.
“Politics are involved and there is no consistency at all. It would be like playing a baseball game in Pennsylvania where a strike is called at the knees and Ohio, they only call it from the waist up.
“When you step back and look at horse racing it has too many issues that get unaddressed and the only way it will survive is like professional sports where you get a commissioner who can rule the entire industry.
“Most important, my son Julian, 3, is just starting to get into activities, school and he is my number one priority. Maximizing time with him is what my future holds. I am not retiring at all from the sport, I’m sure I’ll always have a hand in it, but I expect I’ll have one or two horses tops going forward.”