Spotlight: Ivan Llopez

To honor the horsemen and women of Freehold Raceway, we will be doing a weekly spotlight to highlight some of the “regulars” in the Freehold paddock that have supported our entry box over the years. This week’s spotlight features Ivan Llopez.

Ivan Llopez grew up in a small town in Puerto Rico. Originally, his passion was for playing baseball but when his family moved to the United States in 1983, he began following his brother Delvy to the barn and soon enough he was hooked on harness racing too.

He remembered the first win he was ever a part of, “The horse was called Andre. Mike Fagliarone drove him. At that moment I decided that I wanted to do that too.”

“I started watching everything and everyone so I could learn. I remember walking around the barn area at Freehold and going to the races; although we weren’t allowed in the backside because we were too young, we still snuck in.” He also says that most people at Freehold in this era know him better by his nickname, “Double L”.

Llopez continued his harness racing education by working for various trainers throughout the years, learning more and more from each along the way. Perhaps the biggest name in Llopez’ history of mentors is Ron Burke. “With Ronnie I learned a lot. I learned how to condition a horse and I got to train some of the best horses in the country.”

Though his favorite horse he has ever worked with was the over two-million dollar earner, Bettor Sweet with John and Tom Cancelliere. “He was a special horse and a really fast one.” A close second is LL Jackpot, a horse that he bred and got to see progress from the moment she was born to the moment she became a NJ Sire Stakes winner for Llopez in 2015.

He gives his brother Delvy and trainer Joe Poliseno credit for making him the horseman that he is today. “I have to thank Joe Poliseno and my brother Delvy Llopez for everything that I have learned as far as how to take care of a horse. Joey taught me a lot, not just going around in circles, but to actually learn how to take care of them. He taught me how to groom and actually how to shoe a horse and train.”

With everything that he has learned, Llopez has earned over two million dollars in trainer earnings and is just shy of $400,000 as a driver.

He recalls his recent driving/training hat trick on September 7 at Freehold, his first ever triple: driving or training. “The most special moment that day was that my entire family was there, that was awesome.”

All of Llopez’s wins this year are made even more impressive by the fact that he has been receiving cancer treatments all year for prostate and lung cancer yet still trains a stable of horses and drives them every weekend. He gives credit to Stephanie Holland, Chris Mancini, and Ashley Sykes for being there for him and picking up his slack so Llopez doesn’t have to give up the sport that he loves so much.

Despite this, Llopez is thankful. He wanted to thank everyone that he has learned from as well as the people that have helped him along the way. He is grateful for all of the owners that trusted him with their horses over the years. He is thankful for his family who is always there for him. Llopez is also thankful for Freehold Raceway. “It’s where everything started, a lot of memories are there. It’s not just a track, it is like another home for a lot of us.”