Saratoga’s Joe D’Agostino… Success on a Racetrack 

This week we are going to take a look at Joe D’Agostino. This Saratoga resident has turned a lifelong passion for the sport of horse racing into the role of managing partner of Sportsmen’s Stable.

Joe’s formative years began on Ash Street in the area of Saratoga then known as Dublin. It was a tight knit community and home to many of Saratoga’s Italian American residents. There, the streets came alive during the racing season. Just a few blocks from Joe’s home were the restaurants on Beekman Street that were famous for Italian cuisine. The big three were DeRossi’s, DeGregory’s and Fusco’s. A star-studded cast headed from the races to the west side to enjoy their culinary delights. Joe watched from his front porch as the likes of the Vanderbilts, Whitneys and so many other horse racing personalities made their way to the restaurants. Jockeys Eddie Arcaro and Bill Shoemaker were also among them. Joe was awestruck by their presence and demeanor. It was his first taste of the horse racing crowd, and he liked it.

When Joe was twelve, his dad took him to the track for the first time. Needless to say, he was enthralled with the experience. Joe was resourceful. He wanted more than just a taste of the racetrack. He spotted a portion of the Union Avenue wrought iron fence at the top of the stretch that could be breached. The young teenager took advantage of the opportunity and found himself back on the track. He was thrilled with the sights and sounds that were a part of the horse racing scene.

During that timeframe he also shined shoes in front of King’s Tavern directly across Union Avenue from the track entrance. Then he would pack up his tack and head over to the Adelphi hotel to perform his shining skills for the nighttime crowd on Broadway. If the thrill of seeing the hierarchy of the horse racing scene at the Beekman Street restaurants wasn’t enough, the racetrack adventures and shoeshine jobs made one thing perfectly clear. Young Joe D’Agostino’s future would revolve around a sport that had made his hometown famous since 1863.

The following year he went to work for Allied Maintenance. The company provided cleaning services for the racetrack stands and grounds. He worked for the company throughout high school.

Later, in his summer breaks from college, he took a summer job with the New York Racing Association as a White Cap in the reserved seat portion of the track. He lauds Saratoga’s own racetrack personality, Michael Veitch, for teaching him the ropes of his new position. It was a perfect setting to stay close to the sport he loved.

Joe did his matriculating at Siena, receiving his degree in 1976. After his stint there, he forged a successful business career. Fresh out of college, he went to work for Johnson & Johnson where he sold medical equipment. Although monetarily a home run, Joe chose to move on to different ventures. A lifelong real estate broker, his expertise culminated with the opening of his own agency with his sister Jeanne. It operates successfully as an affiliate of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

Despite all his success, horse racing was always on his mind. 

In 1986 he took a part-time job as a hot walker and later a groom during the racing season. Joe’s plans included becoming a jockey’s agent. Vince DeGregory, a fellow west sider, had made a name for himself as an agent for superstars Angel Cordero and later Laffit Pincay Jr. Joe idolized him and dreamed of following in his footsteps. 

Joe soon decided that the route of owning racehorses was the better way to go for him. He created Sportsmen’s Stable in 1991. He relegated much of his stock to claiming races on the New York circuit. He has stated that at the time winning a $20,000 claiming race was a huge thrill.

His big move came in 2023 when his Sportsmen’s Stable partnered with Parkland Thoroughbreds owned by his mentor and great friend Steve Weston. They have forged a winning combination. Joe states that without Steve he would never have reached the big time. Partnered with their talented trainer Jorge Abreu, the joint venture has taken the trio to dizzying heights on the horse racing scene. Joe also gives much credit to the entire team that are a part the operation. 

In 2023, the team raced a two-year-old filly named Jody’s Pride. She took the Grade 3 Matron stakes before being a close second in the Grade 1 Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies event. Last year as a four-year-old, she prevailed in the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes. Joe was of course ecstatic with the filly’s brilliant performances.

Something even bigger was brewing in the barn, and she would take Joe to the heights of the horse racing scene. Scottish Lassie raced in mind boggling fashion in both her juvenile and three-year-old campaigns.

As a 2-year-old she took the Grade 1 Frizette by almost ten lengths.

It was last July 19 that the racing gods brought Joe a gift that he will never forget. Here at Saratoga in front of a massive hometown crowd of 31,459, Scottish Lassie demolished the field by 15 1/2 lengths in the prestigious Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. It was the ultimate prize for the soft-spoken gentleman who had spent his entire life aspiring to do great things on a racetrack.

This year Joe got another one to remember. His mare Highway Harmony won the final race ever conducted at Aqueduct Racetrack. On June 28, she smoked six furlongs on the outer turf course in 1:06.4 in track record time for the Big A’s swan song.

Joe has aspired to be a part of the horse racing community since he was twelve years old. Doing it his way, he has reached its zenith. When asked if he had further aspirations, he replied that he is just happy that things have turned out as they did. He could not ask for anything more.

Joe’s journey has taken him to racetracks all over the United States and the great racing venues of Europe. He can say with pride that he started out in in a place called Dublin on the west side of Saratoga and along the way he was welcomed in grand style at The Curragh Racecourse, just a short drive from Dublin, Ireland. What a ride it has been.