Lawyers Lives: Hot to Trot
Kenneth Weckstein never races at anything faster than a trot, but don't let that fool you.
The American Lawyer
By Ben Hallman
October 01, 2009
Kenneth Weckstein never races at anything faster than a trot, but don't let that fool you. Weckstein competes in harness races, where a trot means steering a 1,000-pound horse through heavy traffic on a 35-mile-per-hour thrill ride. "You have to be alert every millisecond of the race," Weckstein says. "A horse can go down or someone can interfere with you. It takes great attention."
During the week, Weckstein, 57, is a litigation partner at Brown Rudnick in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in government contracts. On weekends he races (or "drives," in harness-racing parlance) at tracks around the Northeast, and is happy to travel farther in pursuit of his passion. He raced in Spain over Labor Day this year, and has gone as far as New Zealand. "It's a thrill when you have 5,000 people screaming at you," he says.
His interest in the sport, he says, began as a teen, when he skipped school to go to the race track in Yonkers, New York. In 1989 Weckstein bought a horse of his own, obtained his racing license, and, for the first time, began climbing up on the bike--the two-wheeled cart that harness-racing horses tow around the track. Today, he owns and races a stable of five horses.
Weckstein's part-time avocation is more than a hobby. In recent years, he says, racing has more than paid for itself. He estimates that he raced 40 times last year, though it's been harder for him lately, since the track closest to home--Washington, D.C.'s Rosecroft Raceway--recently closed.
Weckstein concedes that his driving skills aren't at a professional level, but in harness racing, a talented amateur with a good horse can compete. Matching up against the pros (who often ride his horses), he has won purses as high as $10,000. "If I have the right horse in the right situation, I can beat anybody," he says.
