Bangor businessman realizes lifetime dream Bill Varney training, racing Standardbred horses

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For almost 60 years, Bangor businessman William “Bill” Varney has held the dream that someday he would follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and drive Standardbred racehorses.

“For me, it’s always been about driving ever since I jogged my grandfather’s horses in Pembroke,” Varney said recently.

As a young man, Varney remembers watching from the Bangor paddock as his grandfather, Leavitt Hatch of Pembroke, drive his “good” horses, Lock Hanover and Billy MacKay, around historic Bass Park’s half-mile oval. He vowed that someday it would be him out there doing the same thing. Now, almost 60 years later, Varney says he has earned the time to pursue his dream.

Varney’s exposure to the Standardbred sport didn’t happen five years ago when he purchased his outstanding pacer, Western Comet, it began more than five decades ago on the working end of a shovel at his grandfather’s stable in Pembroke. During World War II, Varney’s father, Fred, joined the U.S. Navy for a wartime hitch and young Varney went to live with his grandparents in Pembroke. When his chores were done in his grandfather’s general store and feed business, he and his grandfather would head for the West Pembroke racetrack where Hatch had his horses stabled.

Hatch had built a statewide reputation as not only being a good horseman, but also one with an uncanny ability to a take broken-down or lame horse, give him a rest, fix his problem and get him back to the races. Hatch was also one of a dozen Pembroke area men who both financially and physically kept the Pembroke track alive and ready for racing. For many years, the Pembroke track held the envious distinction of being the only racetrack in Maine to offer live racing on Sunday afternoons despite the existing Blue Laws of that era restricting public entertainment on Sundays in Maine.

Varney remembers that before he could watch the races, he had stalls to clean, legs to wrap, and horses to brush down. “It was tough work, but I really enjoyed learning about the horses,” Varney said.

Each Sunday, according to Varney, horsemen would put together an eight-race program with three of four horses to each race and race double and triple heats, “whatever it took to fill a race card. They drew big crowds and the best part was that it was all for fun,” Varney said. “My grandfather got me interested in the sport and I’ve never lost that interest.”

After his grandfather death, Varney inherited most of Hatch’s racing memorabilia, which he proudly displays in a trophy room at his farm.

After World War II ended, Fred Varney returned home and opened a service station in Bangor and young Bill Varney went to Bangor High School where he lettered in both basketball and baseball. But he never forgot the promise he had made to himself.

Following high school, Varney married Brenda McNamara of Bangor, bought a 50-acre farm on the outskirts of Bangor and named it Pembroke Farm in honor of his grandparents. For the next 40 years, Varney and his wife raised a family and built several business enterprises. The results of four decades of hard work produced: two grown sons, Tim and Rick, grandchildren; two automobile agencies: 18 insurance offices and five auto parts stores.

During those growing years, horses remained a part of the Varney’s farm operation. Their sons had ponies, Varney rode a palomino in the Anah Temple Horse Patrol and Brenda began exhibiting Morgan horses. Today, she has a Morgan named CN The Command Touch, who was a world champion in his 3- and 4-year-old years of competition in the Morgan Park Saddle Division. This year, she plans to breed 25 mares to her Morgan stallion.

Varney sums up his business acumen quite simply. “I’ve always thought of myself as a starter or motivator,” he said. “I find a business that is having trouble financially, buy it and try to get it going. But, I’m not good at the day-to-day operations of a business.” He leaves the daily operation to his two sons – Tim operates the insurance business and Rick has the automobile agencies.

“They can run the businesses much better than I can.,” Varney said.

It has been more than five decades since the Pembroke racing days with his grandfather and Varney began to think it was time for him to return to his goal of driving horses. He began more than four years ago at the Bangor horse barns where he met Norm Murray, a local owner, trainer and driver for many years.

He told Murray he wanted to buy a horse and on Murray’s research and advice, Varney claimed a pacer named Western Comet and brought him back to Maine. Comet raced very successfully for his new owner, setting a lifetime best of 1:56 at Scarborough Downs and capturing a win in the Walter Hight Memorial Pace at Skowhegan.

Varney says that of all the horses he has purchased over the past four years, his “best horse” is Baron Biltmore, a Kassa Branca gelding, he bought from another old-time driver-trainer, Jack Bailey in New York. Biltmore raced The Meadowlands four times, made more than $12,000 and earned a win mark for Varney of 1:51.2. Varney also has New York Sire Stakes colts with Bailey.

Buoyed by success with Comet, Varney, burst onto the Maine horse scene, surprising everyone by buying expensive and quality horses almost by the truckload. He has two absolutes – his racing stock has to be quality and his stables have to be extra clean.

He also hired one of New England’s outstanding trainer-driver teams in Valerie Grondin and Heath Campbell. He continues to race his horses at Scarborough Downs, all the Maine racing fairs, The Meadows, Yonkers Raceway, The Meadowlands, and Pompano Park, while still maintaining one of the largest, quality stables in New England.

At one point, his stable count numbered 36 horses, more horses than he had stalls for. Varney rectified the problem by building additional stalls at his Pembroke Farm. He also purchased an adjacent farm with 275 acres and added 14 more stalls at the new property he named West Pembroke Farm. The two farms are separated by a private, half-mile training track and jogging roads leading to the track.

Today, everyone in the East Coast horse business knows Varney and his quality stable. Most of his friends will tell you he is a nice guy that has too many horses.

“They think I’m nuts,” he said, “but I have been working a long time to get to this position. I’m also the kind of guy who jumps in with both feet and it’s either sink or swim.”

Varney set goals for himself as he worked toward securing an driving license for harness racing. His first goal was to drive Blue Hill Fair and then Cumberland Fair, both of which he did last year. He currently holds a Q license (qualifiers and fairs) and believes he is now ready to be upgraded to a Provisional license.

His first parimutuel win came last fall at Cumberland Fair with his trotter, Super Sybil. He knows the perils and pitfalls of driving on a racetrack and had a couple of minor on-track skirmishes at Cornish Fair. He continues his commitment to by jogging every day at his farm track and last Wednesday, he drove in the pre-race qualifiers at Bangor Raceway.

As an owner, Varney quotes some interesting figures. In 2000, his horses placed him 17th on the list of owners whose horses had the most wins in the United States, which is impressive. But on the list of the top 100 money winning owners last year, Varney wasn’t even close. The 100th man on the winning purse list earned about $500,000, and the total amount of purse money earned by all of Varney’s horses last year was approximately $181,000.

“You pay a price for racing in Maine,” he said.

Varney believes that if he wants to stay in business, he has to start a breeding nursery and he is moving in that direction.

“I’m sure I made my share of mistakes in this business and I’ll probably make some more,” he said, “but if there is one thing that I have learned, is that it’s not like it looks from the grandstand. It’s a lot of hard work.

“But, there is nothing in my life that has given me so many ups and downs – the peaks are fantastic and the lows are unbelievable. Hopefully, by getting into the breeding business, it will eventually become a profitable venture. My goal has always been to have fun and make money. So far, all I’ve done is have fun, but I’m working on the other part,” Varney concluded.

Post time for Bangor Raceway’s season opener on Sunday is 1:30 p.m.