When the Monticello-Goshen Chapter USHWA holds its 51st Annual harness racing ‘Awards Banquet’ at Kutshers Country Club on Sunday evening October 25 Sam Stathis will be this years recipient of the Chapter’s Most Happy Fella Award in recognition of the terrific year he has had with the filly trotters that he bred and raised on his Celebrity Farms in Middletown, NY..
The Most Happy Fella Award goes to an outstanding performance in the sport from an individual from the Monticello-Goshen area. The award was named for Most Happy Fella who redefined the breeding industry locally back in the early 1970’s
Stathis’ trotting fillies, Celebrity Sweedie, Celebrity Secret, Celebrity Deville, Celebrity Juliet and Celebrity Athena are competing at the highest level of harness racing.
Celebrity DeVille, a daughter of Andover Hall took a record of 1:54:3 while earning over $322,000 this season. She won a $60,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at Harrah’s Chester but it was her 1:54:2 victory at Mohawk Racetrack in the $488,500 Elegantimage that provided the bulk of her seasonal bankroll
Celebrity Sweedie a 3-year-old daughter of Yankee Glide has amassed a seasonal bankroll of over $153,000 while taking a record of 1:56.
Besides winning the $32,500 Hanover Filly Stakes at Balmoral Park, she finished second to Passionate Glide in the $50,000 Oaks Elimination she was close third in the $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks from the nine-hole.
And Celebrity Juliet earned over $183,000 while taking a race record of 1:55:4. Among her victories were a triumph in thee $60,000 Pa Sire Stakes at Harrah’s Chester and a victory in the $45,000 Zweig Memorial at Tioga Downs.
Adding to Stathis’s recent success is the 103,000 earned by Celebrity Athena thus far this season. And during 2007-8 his Celebrity Secret amassed a whopping $1.1Million.
Though Stathis uses top catch-drivers in all his big races he is quick to complement his trainer Staffan Lind for the outstanding job he does conditioning the fillies.
Sam Stathis is a passionate entrepreneur, investor, developer, engineer, inventor, philanthropist and Harness racing enthusiast who owns and operates Celebrity Farms in Goshen NY. His various endeavors have stemmed from his desire for innovation and advancement of technology, and from them, Stathis has garnered respect within the business world and Harness racing community for his accomplishments in excellence, resourceful business solutions and motivational leadership.
With more than a decade of time and passion invested Stathis has been able to produce some of the sports greatest stars.
John Manzi
