Background
Born in Monticello, New York, Manzi grew up in Sullivan County, New York, in a harness-racing family. His father Alphonso was a horse trainer.
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Catello Manzi
Edit ProfileCareer
Manzi"s nickname is "Catman". He drove his first race at Monticello Raceway in the late 1960s. In 1974 Manzi set a Monticello Raceway record for most wins by a driver.
Manzi also drove Sugar Trader to victory in the 2003 Yonkers Trot.
The Yonkers Trot is the second leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters. On May 27, 1999, Manzi suffered serious injuries in a spill at Freehold Raceway.
Manzi was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in July 2002. On December 31, 2005 at the age of 55, Manzi became the oldest harness driver to lead North America in victories.
Foreign two decades Manzi would drive afternoon races at Freehold Raceway, go home to eat dinner, then drive more races in the evening at Meadowlands Racetrack.
At the time, Hervé Filion and Dave Palone were the only other harness horse drivers to have 14,000 or more career winners. On March 28, 2014, Manzi announced his retirement from driving following two bad accidents. The first, on September 6, 2013 at Freehold Raceway, left Manzi with a fractured pelvis.
After recovering, he returned to racing only to be injured again when the starting car at Freehold Raceway lost control and collided with several drivers and horses on January 10, 2014.
At the time of his retirement, Manzi was ranked third all-time for wins at 14,812, and fifth all-time in earnings at $158.5 million.
