David Siegel named Amateur Driver of the Year

Since 1994, committee fronted by the president of the U.S. Harness Writers Association and the president of the Delvin Miller Amateur Drivers Association along with the president of the North American Amateur Drivers Association has chosen the most outstanding amateur driver of the year. After reviewing countless statistics and considering what the individuals do, and have done, to further the principles of amateur racing the committee has named David Siegel the 2007 National Amateur Driver of the Year.

Perhaps the name David Siegel may not be recognizable to many, even to his fellow amateur drivers, but Siegel, a true gentleman driver based in California, not only has impressive driving stats this year but mainly through his efforts amateur racing continues to breath life in the Golden State.

Upon learning that he was selected as the Amateur Driver of the Year Siegel responded with, “I’m absolutely thrilled. I set my mind to do well this year and I worked hard at it. I’m a student of the game and I always study how the top drivers handle their horses. I love to compete and winning is such a rush but being the recipient of this award is well…as good as it gets.”

Driving competitively at Cal Expo in Sacramento for the last three years this season has by far been the best for the 49-year-old executive. From 209 starts Siegel won 28 races and had 35 seconds and 20 thirds for a .259 UDR and purses of $100,040 while driving mainly against professionals at the only pari-mutuel harness track still operating in California. About half of his drives at Cal Expo were with horses he owned where he sported an impressive .352 UDR.

Siegel, who calls Palo Alto, Cal., home since 1981, is a transplanted easterner from Livingston, N.J., who heeded Horace Greeley’s advice and moved west. A graduate of Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., Siegel later obtained his Masters in Business Administration at Stanford University.

Currently Siegel is the president of Trackmaster, an Equibase subsidiary which supplies handicap information for Thoroughbred and harness players, and it was through his profession that he became involved in amateur racing.

“I never even touched a horse until 2002 when I purchased a pacer by the name of Wastin Time,” Siegel reflected. “Ed Hensley was my trainer at that time and for 18 months I jogged and sometimes trained horses with Ed. Two years later when I applied for my driver’s license I had to drive in 45 qualifying races before I was granted a provisional license in late 2004.”

Siegel regrets not being able to participate in the Billing Series, and says it is “just not in the cards from the West Coast.” However, for the past few years, through his efforts, his California Amateur Drivers Club has hosted the East-West Challenge where members of the Billings Series have traveled to  Sacramento to compete in a series of races Cal Expo.

Currently Siegel owns 12 horses most of which race at Cal Expo but he also has three competing on the East Coast at Saratoga Raceway in upstate New York.

Married for 22 years, he and his wife Mona have two daughters, Rebecca, a junior at Occidental College, and Samantha, who attends Palo Alto High School. (Billings)

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