August 29, 2025
It's been just over two years since I spent almost two weeks at a little cabin in New Jersery, about twenty-five minutes from Goshen, New York. I stayed there with my best friend, traveling buddy and research assistant, Boedy. This cabin near a section of the Appalachian Trail is on the site of an old mill of some sort. The ruins of the old structure remain, choked by the foliage as the wooded hillside reclaims the land where the mill once stood. 
        Today I drove past the road that the cabin is on. I was tempted to stop by and have a look but I was on my way back to the Harness Racing Museum and was already behind schedule. The last  time I drove that road and set eyes on that cabin, Boedy was with me. I'd completed the largest leg of my research journey for the Greyhound book and with hope in my heart imagined Boedy and I returning to this cabin in two years with a finished Greyhound book. Boedy would be fifteen years old by then and I wondered back then if I would still have him. As it turned out, Boedy didn't quite make it to the end of this particular journey. I lost him on June 16.

       I continued down the same road I drove many times two years before, nodding at the familiar landmarks and feeling the odd sensations that accompany a return to a place that is both known and unknown. I am completing this leg of the Greyhound journey without Boedy. I had a box of Greyhound books for the museum gift shop and a copy of the book to donate to the library--the trade for the use of the resources housed there (in addition to the payment of my annual membership--a nice feature of membership). 
       Goshen looked just as it did the last time I saw it. I'd hoped to stop at my favorite bagel shop but again, I was running behind schedule so I skipped it for now. I would try on my way out of town (as it turned out, I arrived too late, just minutes after closing...maybe next year). The museum greeted me with a familiar comfort as I walked through the door. A sort of "coming home" feeling that is known to anyone who spends as much time in the past as I do--when they cross the threshold of a place that contains so many pieces of what they are passionate about. 
       The museum had some new exhibits and a few changes to existing exhibits to celebrate the 100th Hambletonian. I looked forward to exploring but first I wanted to deliver the book to Paul, the librarian and catch up with Rebecca (collections curator), Janet (executive director), and Dillon (Rebecca's assistant--all of whom were very helpful in accessing and exploring the museums vast Greyhound collection.

Below: some of the artifacts at the museum. It's amazing what they have. For someone like me who loves the long-ago history of the sport, I particularly enjoyed the artifacts from the 1800s and early 1900s from such historical legends as Maude S, Goldsmith Maid, and Lou Dillon. 
Also of interest were the dioramas featuring models of famous Standardbreds from decades past. Many of these were part of Greyhound's pedigree and/or story.

        It was a full circle moment of sorts, to return to a place where an important part of this journey began. This time more than two years had passed but now I had a book--the finished product--in my hand. Back in 2023, with my Goshen trip behind me, I packed up my truck and Boedy and I headed to Michigan. There I spent the rest of the summer putting in hours a day, day after day, reading through all the information I collected, scanning thousands of pages of old newspapers on newspapers.com and scratching out the first (very rough) draft of Greyhound's story. That's the funny thing about writing that I never really thought about until it was part of my life--the fact that an author can work for months or even years without any pay at all, only the hope that a book will come together, that it will be published, and then that people will buy it. The thousands of working hours I put in traveling, researching, and writing over the three years it took to take Greyhound's story from idea to reality are now something tangible. I'm so excited to be able to share this remarkable and inspiring story with the world and introduce new generations to the legendary trotter!
        I hope you've enjoyed these blog posts and I hope you love reading Greyhound's story. It will be officially released nationwide on September 30th. However, you can pre-order signed copies HERE or you can buy one from me during one of my upcoming events (see below). 
       Keep an eye on this blog. I will continue to post about Greyhound and some of my adventures on this journey. There was a ton of information and photos that wouldn't fit in the book that will eventually be in this blog. In the mean time, Trot Fast~Fly High!

August 2023
During my time at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY, I often walked to lunch or elsewhere around the town. I first heard of the town of Goshen, New York when I read Walter Farley's "The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt," part of his famous Black Stallion series. The two books in the series dedicated to harness racing follow the life of the Black Stallion's son, Bonfire--a blood bay trotting colt. 
       In the second book (mentioned above), Bonfire races in the Hambletonian in Goshen, New York--the "Kentucky Derby" of trotters. I remember as a young girl back in 1980-something  imagining that someday I would go to Goshen and see the Hambletonian in person. Of course I had no idea then that the Hambletonian had long ago left Goshen and that the track itself had been defunct for more than a decade at that point. Regardless, like the knowledge of Greyhound, I tucked that piece of Goshen history into my memory box and marked it as "visit someday." 
       If you've been following this blog, you know I wrote about Good Time Park in a previous post (read it HERE). Good Time Park may be gone, but there is a lot of harness racing history remaining in Goshen. 

       Sometimes I surprise myself at what I don't take pictures of. In this case, I have no photo of the entrance to Historic Track. I can only guess that I a) decided I couldn't get a good picture, or b) thought I'd have a chance to get it later. Regardless, I was surprised going through my photos that I don't have an image of the entrance. I do have the above photo. As I recall this marker is located inside the main entrance. The marker below is also somewhere near the main entrance. 

If you look at old photos of Historic, it's easy to pick out the most notable feature which is still present today: the uniquely-domed judges stands:

Like I do anytime I'm visiting an area related to a person (or horse) I'm writing about, I look for the things that were there when my subject was there. At Historic Track, this is not hard to find. Looking at old photos and present day images, you can easily pick out the original buildings still standing. I think the 2023 image below is of the barn Greyhound stayed in during his 1938 visit. Do you?

In other photos of the barn, I can see there is a much taller structure behind it. I imagine this has been torn down. Or it's possible that the barn seen today is a replacement for the structure there in Greyhound's day. Because of the conflicting images, I can't definitively say the barn is the same. I can say however that the barns are in the same location. This is how research goes. Find a "fact" then find other "facts" to support it (or disprove it). 

Around Goshen
After walking around Historic for a while, I walked around Goshen. There is an impressive church near the center of town. It can be seen in old aerial photos of Good Time Park. 

This amazing fountain was dedicated in memory of Edward Harriman--I'm guessing the father of E. Roland Harriman, a man who contributed much to the sport of Harness Racing and is responsible for the formation of the U. S. Trotting Association. His history and links to the sport run deep and can hardly be covered here. He is of course mentioned in my book and you can learn a bit more about E. Roland Harriman there. When I first saw the fountain I thought it was dedicated to E. Roland, but the date on the fountain clearly reads 1911. E. Roland Harriman was still alive in Greyhound's era, some twenty-five years later.

Goshen and Historic Track are more than worth a visit, as is the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. If you can, go in July during the race meet -- I hope to do that next year. But the track, the town, and the museum are open for visiting year round. There is much more to see than I shared here. Please enjoy these additional images from my time at Historic Track:

August 15, 2023
My last day at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. What an experience this has been! I spent 8 days total in my research here, between 5 and 7 hours each day. Everyone was quite welcoming and glad to help. It's really great to have such a nice place full of so many treasures. I find myself a little jealous of the work they do. Imagine! Getting paid to spend time with all of that history and those amazing items from the colorful past of the sport of harness racing. I am glad to have paid an annual membership for the past three years to support the museum and gain access to the research library. 

Today was extra special as Rebecca let me see and touch some of the Greyhound artifacts! As I've said before, one of the things most important for me as a writer is to be in places my subject has been -- this extends to handling items that were part of his life. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it, but the connection is somehow broader and deeper--when a piece of them touches a part of you.
       Among the treasures I saw today were three of Greyhound’s blankets, a full set of shoes, and a single shoe. I was allowed to handle the objects and photograph them. So amazing to be this close to items worn by the champ. There were a few white hairs stuck to the lettering on the blankets (anyone that has handled horse blankets/coolers knows it’s impossible to get all the hair off no matter how hard you try). These little hairs were a treasure in and of themselves. Call me weird if you like but I touched each one, knowing it was as close as I’d ever be to touching the horse himself. 

The rest of the day was spent going through Greyhound’s guest book and Leone Putnam’s handwritten notes for her manuscript “Dooley and the Grey Ghost.” No real surprises in the guest book, aside from the sheer magnitude of signatures. I did see a couple sweet drawings made by little girls and a comment or two about what a wonderful horse Greyhound was to visit.
       In the same glass case holding the guestbook, there is the bridle Greyhound wore in retirement, the saddle he wore in his 1940 under saddle record, and Sep Palin's colors. The green of his jacket had turned purple over time--something that happens with green dye for some reason I'm sure a chemist could explain. But the buttons are still green. 
       

The rest of the day I spent with Leone's notes--what a beautiful treasure—small snippets of the life she and Dooley shared with Greyhound. There were a few surprises here that I hope to incorporate into the book. There were also several notes I’d love to be able to talk to her about, a few words written to jog her memory that appear as incomplete thoughts to me. Still, so amazing to look through these and I’m so very grateful for all the effort she put into her manuscript and that she saved everything. These notes are an invaluable resource. Thank you, Leone.

       So concluded my time at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. It was a lot of fun to spend time here and go through all of these treasures. I'm grateful to Janet, Rebecca, Paul, and Dillon for all their help. The harness racing sport is lucky to have them and this facility that celebrates the horses, the people, the tracks, and the history that makes our sport so great!