Spotlight:Vinny Ginsburg

Vinny Ginsburg is a third-generation horseman from the large family of Fuscos. His grandfather, Vincenzo Fusco was the father of eleven children. Harness racing is a love shared by the Fusco family and continues to be passed on to the next generation.

“It started when I was like five years old jogging with my grandfather at his track in Freehold,” told Ginsburg, “It didn’t really take off for me until I was about 12 or 13 that I really wanted to start doing it.” It’s easy to catch the “harness racing bug” when it is a passion shared so deeply among family. “I was always around the barn, always around the horses for my entire life.”

“When I was 18 and graduated high school, I really liked the horses but I didn’t really like working hard in the barn,” Ginsburg laughed. “I talked to my uncle Vinnie and started jogging and training a bunch of horses for him and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a driver.”

He started his driving career on the right foot with a win in his first ever pari-mutuel start which was aboard Badlands Woman at Freehold Raceway. Since then, Ginsburg has accrued almost 12.5 million dollars in driver earnings.

Ginsburg has since matured from his fresh-out-of-highschool mindset and doesn’t mind the barnwork these days. “Now I train a lot of my own. I always like working with my own horses all week and when they win it makes me happy and proud.”

But the moments that are most meaningful to Ginsburg are the ones that involve his family. In 2015, he earned the title of leading driver at Freehold Raceway and shared the spotlight with his uncle Vinnie who won the training title that same year.

Ginsburg also recalled his grandfather’s horse, Too Much Hanover. With Ginsburg in the bike, he always seemed to find his way to the winner’s circle when his family needed it most. Like when Ginsburg’s grandfather Vincenzo was ill and again on the one year anniversary of Ginsburg’s grandmother’s passing.

Celebrating a win as a family was important to Vincenzo Fusco. His son Peter said, “My dad loved his family in the winner’s circle when he won. He was so proud to come back to the winner’s circle with his family.”

Working with family makes work fun for trainer Maria Reid, daughter of Vincenzo Fusco. “It’s an awesome feeling. Not to be punching a clock somewhere and working for somebody. There is nothing better than doing what you love and making your way in life.”

The Fusco family celebrates the highs together, but they also stick together through the lows. In 2020, the covid-19 virus took the lives of Vincenzo’s wife Grace, as well as Carmine and Vinnie Fusco and their Aunt Maria. Despite it all, the Fusco family remains resilient, “We lost two of our brothers and it kind of died for us but we’re still struggling and fighting to do the racing. We love it,” told Peter.

His brother Paul said, “When you work with your family, the triumphs mean a lot. You get your hard times, but the triumphs outweigh the hard times, that’s for sure.”

The Fusco family undoubtedly has a bond, resilience, and passion for harness racing like no other, and that is what makes them so admirably “Fusco strong”.