Featured Owner – Myron Bell

You may know the name Captaintreacherous, but meet the man with over 45 years in harness racing who helped organize the horse’s development.

“I started out as a fan way back in 1960,” says Myron Bell when asked how he got involved in harness racing. Watching the races at Yonkers and Roosevelt raceway as a bettor, Bell was attracted to the idea of ownership and after a few years playing around with the idea he decided to take the plunge. He bought his first horse in 1967 and hasn’t looked back.

After his first purchase of a yearling was a success in 1976, Myron was approached by George Segal (before Brittany Farms was formed) for his help pursuing the harness racing business and keep an eye out for potential winners in New York at the Meadowlands Racetrack. They had success with some high profile fillies and this partnership led to others in the ‘80s at a small scale that quickly grew.

“My job is not to get in the way of greatness.” Working with trainer Tony Alagna and driver Tim Tetrick, Bell adds his knowledge of the sport to the team. With “The Captain” already with stallion prospects, Bell helps the partnership to keep the racing career balanced with his future at the stud farm.

Always planning for the future – currently with a selection of up and coming 2 year olds – Bell doesn’t want to jinx his prospects, but is happy with the success of Captaintreacherous and other parts of his stable partnerships. A recent win by That’s My Opinion and the support for Father Patrick make him smile, while he’s also excited for Capital Account’s potential.

Over four decades in harness racing has given Bell his fair share of wins and proud memories. “A touching moment for myself and my partners was My MVP winning the Kentucky Futurity 2 years ago.” Members of the owner’s partnership were laughing and crying, while Bell was just so happy and proud for them as a whole and what they were able to accomplish. “Hopefully there’ll be some more good moments [like that] in the years to come.”

Working with horses like Captaintreacherous is “a dream come true,” but Myron Bell won’t rest on his laurels. Always working and looking towards the future, he’ll stay active bringing new owners in to the sport and developing future legends of the sport.

This interview is part of our new weekly features of faces in the sport, from fans to owners, trainers to grooms.