Spotlight: Mike Posner

Mike Posner’s harness racing education began after his formal education at Ohio State and University of Cincinnati was complete, earning him a philosophy degree. Despite the degree, Posner still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. “I was unemployed and someone asked if I wanted to get a job cleaning stalls. I had no knowledge of horses whatsoever. I moved into Scioto Downs and started cleaning stalls.”

Posner said, “I really enjoyed the horses, I really took to it.” So much that he went from track to track across the country, living in tack rooms and learning more each day. Finally Posner landed out east in New Jersey, the hub of harness racing in the 1970s. It was at this time that Posner felt that he was ready to step up to become a trainer and driver.

“There was a trainer named Howard Camden, he was the first person to have a two-minute two-year-old. He was the chief of police in Colts Neck and had 90 horses,” told Posner. Camden had his horses spread across the state between Freehold, Gaitway Farm, and the Meadowlands. “We made a deal, he would let me become his trainer and he would get me my drivers license, but I had to take care of the Freehold stable. “ So Posner took on the stable of about 20 horses which he trained and drove.

By 1984, at 30 years old, Posner was ready to go out on his own. “From there, everything just took off. I was the leading trainer at Freehold for a couple of different meets. I was stabled at Freehold, back in the 80s. My roots are at Freehold.”

Turning 70 years old this week, Posner’s successes began even before detailed records were kept by the USTA. But since comprehensive record keeping began in 1992, Posner has accrued well over 1,000 wins and over seven million dollars in purse earnings as a trainer and over $100,000 in earnings as a driver. His resume as trainer involves many stakes wins, including the Sheppard Pace at Yonkers.

In 1996, Posner purchased a farm in neighboring Jackson, New Jersey and turned it into a training facility. Not stopping there, the property has also become home to a show horse barn which is run by his wife as well as an equine rehabilitation center. “I built this show horse facility because my daughter [Leah Posner] has always been an avid rider and showed all growing up because my wife used to ride, so my daughter was into riding. She’s been riding and showing horses since she was like five years old, she’s now 27 years old.”

Leah Posner also has a small stable of harness horses that she trains alongside her boyfriend, Austin Siegelman (who is Freehold’s current leading driver in 2024). She has earned over $300,000 in trainer earnings since 2020. “She is also the show horse trainer at our facility. Even though she likes harness racing and is Austin’s trainer, her expertise is showing and teaching people how to ride and how to show,” her father says.

Like his daughter, Mike has a niche with horses outside of training which is working with lame horses, hence his equine rehabilitation center which includes a pool and water treadmill.

He also has developed a love for breeding; his current day stable is mostly comprised of home-breds. “I bred years ago but I didn’t feel the same way as I do now; I didn’t mind getting rid of the babies. Now I’m much more emotionally attached to them. I would have a very hard time now ever getting rid of any of my babies.”

When reflecting on his long and successful career, the proudest moment for Posner isn’t a training title or stakes win (although they do come close). It has been when his home-breds make it to the winner’s circle. “They’re my babies, I was there when they were born, I raced their mothers.”

Posner’s farm is a testament to his and his family’s love of the horse. “In retrospect, I never thought of myself as a driver or trainer, just a person who loved horses.

By Katie Eick, for Freehold Raceway