Dude, as he likes to be known, got the nickname at an early age.

"I was Ruel, Jr., but there was already someone in the family known as Junior, so my mom and dad starting calling me Dude and it stuck," he explained.

"My father was a woodsman by trade, then he got into harness racing back in New England in the 1960s when he was past 30," Goodblood explained. "For me, I knew I wanted to be in this sport the first time I ever touched a horse's head, which is when I was about 6 years old."

Dude won some 2,900 of his races while competing on the half-mile tracks in Maine between 1974 and 1994, and also has landed in the charmed enclosures of most of the major tracks in the East.

"Theatre Production would have to be my favorite horse," he explained. "We've had him since he was just a yearling. He won two legs of the Woodruff and two legs of the Horse and Groom at the Meadowlands, and he set a world record for a mile and a quarter at Colonial Downs."

Goodblood also noted that his wife Whitney has her A license and will likely be seen in action here in the sulky some night before they head back to the East for the summer. He also made a point to say how much they appreciate the warmer temperatures, something we always hear from visitors.

Mark RATZKY