MacArthur grad gallops to success at Aqueduct

Ever since Robert Falcone Jr. was a boy, he has been around horses, and now the Wantagh native is a two-time winning trainer at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Falcone’s father, Robert Sr., the owner of Robert SS Auto Sales Inc., has owned horses for more than 35 years, and currently has eight, which he keeps at Belmont Park. Robert Jr., a 20-year-old MacArthur High School graduate, now trains them all.

“It’s a dream come true,” Robert Sr. said of his son’s success. “As a father, I’m very proud.” After two of his horses finished second and third in his son’s debut as trainer at Aqueduct, Robert Jr.’s first taste of victory came on March 23, when Alysaro won the Maiden Claiming $20,000 Race. Then, on April 2, another Falcone horse, Rumble Doll won first place in a $50,000 Maiden claimer.

Before becoming a trainer for his father in high school, Falcone was an assistant under Dominic Schettino, who said that Falcone had a “natural talent with the horses.” Schettino was a trainer for Falcone’s father for five years before willingly giving way to Robert Jr.

“I’m very proud,” Schettino said. “I told his dad he’s much more advanced and ready to go on his own.”

Falcone started working with horses in high school, and he caught on quickly, Schettino said. Falcone said that his love for horses sprouted when he was just 4. “We went to visit one of my dad’s horses,” he recalled. “[Trainer] Faustino Ramos, who used to work with us, put me on one of the horses. I just couldn’t get enough of it.”

Falcone went to Howell Road School in Valley Stream, Salk Middle School and MacArthur. College was not on his list of options because of his desire to work with horses, he explained. “I always knew I wanted to do something with horseracing,” he said. “It’s a lot more than people think. It’s a lot of hard work.”

Falcone’s typical day begins around 5 a.m., when he decides which of his father’s horses he will gallop or jog, and he monitors their training charts.

“Every horse is different,” he said.

When Alysaro finished first last month, Falcone’s dad won $16,000, $1,600 of which went into the trainer’s pocket. On April 2, the winning purse was $24,000, and Robert Jr. took home $2,400.

“It was a really good feeling,” he said of his first win. “It was certainly something that I’ll never forget.”