Chuck Spina says there’s a simple reason to do what he does in a training career that began in 1971.
“I enjoy it. Otherwise, why am I getting up between 3:45 and 4 seven days a week?” he said.
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As he begins to retire with his stable, which consists mostly of New Jersey-breds before wintering his horses, the 78-year-old Spina will try to squeeze in two races Friday night during the Monmouth season at the Meadowlands.
He will send Command Opera in the first race, when he will send the Jersey-breds against the open team but from the maiden special weight classes to the $25,000 maiden claimer, and then Slick Merlin in the fifth race for the Jersey-breds going five furlongs on the grass.
The first two starters will be in the meadows this year.
“I’m definitely bent over the year,” Spina said. “We will put our Jersey-breds on the shelf for the winter and then start ringing them to start the Monmouth Park meet.
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“I run a few at Penn National in the winter, but mostly we start our Jersey-bred innovations at Monmouth.”
Spina continues to be an example of consistency at Monmouth, with the most recent summer marking his fourth consecutive top-10 season as a player. He won primarily in the meeting with 10 of his 83, Charles Hesse took the 3rd Trap with Felix Oblation and the Girl’s Handicap Jersey with Juello Oceani.
Last year, he won more races at Monmouth (15), but had more firsts (99).
“It’s been a good year,” he said. “I won 11 overall and won two furlongs. I was second in two other stakes and we had 19 seconds (at Monmouth). So my horses ran.”
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Spina, who teaches mostly at Joe and Gayle Joia’s Colts Hill, NJ-based Prancing Horse Farm, admits to getting a little bored in the winter. He often wondered what he would do if he ever decided to retire.
“I do this because I love the game,” he said. “I still enjoy running at Monmouth as much as ever (after being a fixture on the track for 50 plus years). When I think about retiring, I think, ‘What am I going to do with myself?’
“I used to have a boat. I used to fish. I don’t have a boat anymore and I don’t do much fishing anymore. I always said I wanted to take off the ball but I never did. So what should I do with myself? Winter is no fun. You don’t run, you don’t make money and I’m bored. But it’s part of the routine for me.”
The Monmouth Beach, NJ, resident is credited with 541 career wins from Equibase, but the records only go back to 1976 and do not include totals from 1971 through 1975.
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“I won my first race at Aqueduct in 1971. I was 22 years old,” he said. “But I certainly didn’t think I’d still be doing this at my age when I first started. Love what you can do while I have.”
This story was first published by Paulick Report on Oct. 7 2026, where for the first time in the News section Add the Paulck Report as Preferred Source by clicking here.