That's because DeCarlo's work with Bunny Lake, the 2001 Horse of the Year, was primarily done behind the scenes as her caretaker.

But when Bunny Lake retired following the 2004 season, DeCarlo decided it was time to start a new phase in his career, one as a trainer.

Last year, DeCarlo sent out 96 starters, mainly at Saratoga Raceway, and won 28 times, good for $150,747 in purses. He now has six horses in training and has headed to the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey, where he hopes to expand his stable.

"I had a pretty good year for what I had at Saratoga," DeCarlo said. "Whether I can do well here is another story. I'm going to stay here as long as I can and hopefully attract some new owners. This is where I kind of would like to be."

Last week, DeCarlo sent 4-Year-Old trotting mare Audit into the first leg of the Super Bowl series at the Meadowlands; she won by a nose over favorite Four Starz Robro in a lifetime best 1:58. She is two-for-two this season, with earnings of $12,500, for owners Dan Mitchell of Michigan and Pete Hardy of Connecticut, who purchased her last November. Audit has won 13 of 40 lifetime starts and banked $56,403.

"She's been a pleasant surprise so far," DeCarlo said. "I wasn't sure if she would be a Meadowlands caliber horse. They bought her in the Ohio sale and I trained her and kind of liked her. She's done everything I've asked her to do so far. Whether she can trot in [1]:56 like the top colts here, I don't know yet. But I don't think we've hit the bottom with her, that's for sure. She's getting better and better. Hopefully, she can do something in the final. She's well mannered and good to work around. Hopefully, we can get a little more speed out of her."

The second leg of the Super Bowl series is Wednesday and the $65,000 final is January 25, two days before DeCarlo's birthday.

DeCarlo hopes to have another starter in a series at the Meadowlands in February. He is pointing 4-Year-Old male pacer Desert Hombre toward the Senior Trendsetter, which begins February 12 and concludes with a $75,000 final on February 26.

Desert Hombre, who was bought by Michael Eats and Edwina Batty in November, made his first start of 2006 at Freehold Raceway on Saturday, finishing fifth. He spent much of his career racing in Iowa and has won nine of 30 lifetime races and $26,764.

"I was happy with the way he raced," DeCarlo said. "I'll probably give him one more start at Freehold, just to make sure that he's ready for that place (the Meadowlands). The pacers seem to go pretty well there, even this time of year. Saturday was his first start for me, so I don't know too much about him, but he's pretty easy to take care of and well mannered. A friend of mine owns him, and when they found out I was coming down here they wanted to give him a try at the Meadowlands. They wanted to see if he's Meadowlands caliber or not. We still don't know, but we'll find out."

DeCarlo, who also trains two horses for Paula Wellwood, grew up around harness racing. His father, also Joe, won more than 300 races as a driver in addition to training Standardbreds.

The elder DeCarlo (whose middle initial is A. while his son's is D.) retired from racing several years ago, but lends his son a hand from time to time.

"I went away a few weeks ago and left him in charge to run everything and he said he had everything under control, so I take his word for it," the younger DeCarlo said. "Actually, he's thinking about coming out of retirement if I get a bigger stable."

While caring for Bunny Lake, DeCarlo often was responsible for training the mare while on the road. Bunny Lake won 47 of 93 races in her career and earned $2.8 million, the second-highest earnings for any female pacer in history.

As a 3-Year-Old in 2001, she won 19 of 21 starts, including her final 18 in a row for trainer-driver John Stark Junior and the W Springtime Racing Stable, which shared ownership of her.

She beat out trotter Syrinx Hanover for Horse of the Year and is one of just three female pacers in history to receive the honour.

"She had her moments where she could be a little on the nasty side," DeCarlo said. "She didn't really like to be bothered too much with other people. I guess I kind of spoiled her. I'd keep her happy as much as I could; turning her out a lot and letting her be the boss. I took care of other horses on the side, but when it was summertime and time to go on the road, it was just her. I did pretty much everything with her. Me and John had a good relationship and he trusted my judgment. We would converse back and forth about what we thought needed to be done. He was a great boss and it was just a great relationship.

"The 3-Year-Od season was definitely one of the biggest highlights. Also the travel, getting to meet all kinds of people. Because of her, I had the good fortune of meeting the Wellwoods and some other big people in Canada that really helped launch my career. It was disappointing when it was coming to an end, but I knew it was the right thing for her. She just wasn't right the last few starts, and we knew it was going to be time eventually. You hate to see the ride end, but we had to do what was right for her."

But with one ride ending, another began. "I guess the biggest thing about going on my own is just there's a lot of things when you're an employee that you don't have to worry about," DeCarlo said. "Like taking care of the books and entering horses, dealing with owners. Nothing really special, but more pressure."

If his dealings with a former Horse of the Year are any indication, he should be able to handle it fine.

Courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, A Division of the United States Trotting Association