BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — Cat Manzi shows no signs of slowing down.
The 54-year-old Harness Hall of Fame reinsman enjoyed the finest year of his career in 2004, winning 651 races and more than $7 million in purse money. His 651 wins were just 18 behind Driver of the Year Dave’s Palone’s 669.
“I got off to a good start this past year at the Meadowlands with a few people who I regularly drive for, including Ken Rucker, and it just snowballed from there,” Manzi said. “The people who I’ve been working for from the start have been a big part of my success and I owe a lot of it to them. They’ve been there from the beginning and it’s paid off.”
Manzi’s biggest win of the ’04 campaign was the $1.1 million North America Cup at Woodbine, Ontario, Canada, guiding longshot Mantacular to the win. He also earned a victory via disqualification in the $703,000 Woodrow Wilson Final at the Meadowlands.
At his home track, Freehold Raceway, Manzi won several big stake races, including the Charles Smith Memorial Prep and $100,000 Smith Final with Make It Hot. On Oct. 16, Manzi equaled the Freehold record for wins on one card, eight, joining John Campbell (1986) and Jack Moiseyev (1995).
With each ensuing year, Manzi is putting up staggering career numbers that place him among the greatest in his sport. He drove in 3,293 races last year, extending his record for the most consecutive years of driving in 1,000 or more races to 27 straight. He has driven 2,000 or more races a year for 18 consecutive years, also a record.
Manzi and John Campbell are the only drivers in harness history to have earned $4 million in purse earnings for 16 straight years. With $101 million in earnings, Campbell became just the third driver to earn more than $100 million in his career. Campbell and Mike LaChance are the other two. Manzi has more than 10,000 career wins.
Despite a record 16 driving titles at Freehold Raceway and those 10,000 career wins, Manzi, who lives in Freehold, is as hungry as ever and well on his way to picking up title No. 17. He started the 2005 season by winning five races Jan. 6.
“I go into the meet thinking I’m going to be the leading driver,” Manzi said before the start of the 2004-05 meet. “I’m not going to give it up. They [other drivers] are going to have to be beat.”
That hasn’t been very easy against a driver as focused and dedicated as Manzi. He has a commanding lead over his fellow drivers heading into the 2005 portion of the meet that won’t conclude until Memorial Day weekend.
Manzi makes no concession to age, working harder than ever on his conditioning off the track.
“I keep myself fit by jogging and riding a bike,” he said. “It’s important to stay in some kind of shape.”
Manzi is one of the busiest drivers on the circuit. In addition to driving daily double-headers at Freehold during the day and the Meadowlands at night, he made appearances at Dover Downs in Delaware and Woodbine last year.
Despite a hectic schedule that means a lot of travel, don’t expect to see Manzi backing off anytime soon.
“I have no plans to take some time off this upcoming year. I’ll be down at Dover on Mondays as well as Freehold and the Meadowlands, but I’m sure it will come up.”
Proving he is not superman, Manzi admitted, that “I need a vacation sometime.”
It won’t come soon enough for his fellow harness drivers.