Andersen, a Columbus native, living the dream after first career victory
TRENTON » Of the gazillion different professions there are in life, Cecile and Kenneth Andersen encouraged son Bryan to explore pretty much all of them. Except one.
“You have no idea how bad my parents tried to kick me away from the horses,” Andersen said with a laugh.
So, what did they want him to do?
“Just about anything but,” he said.
That wasn’t happening, however, as Bryan’s passion for harness racing was overwhelming. And it seems to be working out, as the 25-year-old took his first trip to heaven on Nov. 2.
If Andersen hits the Power Ball and is set financially for life, it still won’t amount to the high he experienced at Freehold that day when he achieved something money can’t buy.
Andersen earned his first career driving victory by taking Rock Star wire-to-wire. As he crossed the line, Andersen’s joy was worth more than $1 million a day.
“I’d say (it felt like) winning the lottery, but if I won the lottery I don’t think it would be close to how this felt,” he said. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. My grandfather was in the business, my father was in the business. I basically took over for my father, I’ve been working for my license all year.”
And the win came in his 16th career race.
It’s about time he got some good fortune, as Bryan has had some tough breaks in his life.
A resident of Columbus, Andersen was the equivalent of an equine gym rat. His grandfather, the late Robert Andersen, was a trainer and driver.
“He really wasn’t all that great,” Bryan said. “He just loved the horses and did it for the love of it.”
When Robert stopped training, he worked as a security guard at Pompano just to stay around it.
Ken was in it his entire life as a trainer and driver working for others, and he had the leading pacer at Tioga several years ago. Ken’s brother, Ralph, is a trainer in Massachusetts and his other brother, Al, is a veterinarian. Cecile has been around race horses and riding horses for a lifetime, and Bryan’s sister, Amy Seuss, is the Head Western Pleasure teacher for Delaware Valley College.
And they wanted to keep this kid away from horses? Good luck.
Bryan grew up helping at his dad’s stable. He wrestled in middle school and gave that up after eighth grade to focus on the horses. But he got sidelined shortly after graduating from Northern Burlington County High School when a scar tissue build-up in his girder resulted in a swollen kidney three times its natural size.
“They had to cut it and clip and everything else,” he said. “I was bed-ridden and couldn’t do anything (physical) for six months.”
Andersen could not sit around that long, so he attended trade school for massage therapy. He and some partners started a franchise called Massage Delivery, in which they transformed a car trailer into a traveling massage studio and would go from home to home to give massages. Horses, however, were still in the equation.
“I would schedule all my massages, then go right back to the stable,” he said. “I always had a project on the side, whether it was a riding horse, or whatever. I always had to be around the horses.”
The table-to-stable practice did not last, however. A year after healing from his kidney issues, more misfortune struck Bryan when Massage Delivery went out of business.
“I enjoyed doing it very much, but the whole entire franchise fell through, “Andersen said. “The name fell through, one of the partners backed out. It was just a . . . . ” Mess?
“Yeah, basically.”
That just meant more time for the horses. Even if the massage business thrived, Andersen would have never left the barn, saying, “Going around that track, whether it be three minutes and 30 seconds breaking a baby or be it 1:50, that’s my happy place. That’s just where I find the most serenity. Everything else doesn’t matter but me and the animal.”
And while Andersen assures that his days as a massage therapist are over, he feels the involvement will be forever invaluable.
“It gave me experience a little more with the horses as well; now I can feel problems,” he said. “It becomes like a second set of eyes. Basically, it’s just following a muscle. It’s all muscular, I’ve been around the horses enough to know where they go, how they lead.”
After the business folded, Andersen continued to help his dad at their New Egypt barn and, at the start of this year, he took over for his dad and now runs Andersen Stable. He has grown it from two horses to seven. Bryan owns one, Ken owns a baby they just purchased at Harrisburg, and the rest are owned by Robert Zakian.
Prior to getting his training and driving licenses this year, Andersen worked for the likes of Linda Toscano, Tony O’Sullivan and Robert Cleary. He spent the summer at Tioga and is currently doing all the training at his stable, although his dad is on hand to provide any necessary help. Four of the seven horses are racing, one is being healed up and the plan is to break two babies in Florida.
It took some work to get Rock Star back on the track, as the pacer blew his right front suspensory a while ago.
“It ended up being inflamed so we had to baby him back,” Andersen said. “We qualified him, dropped him in the box. I knew he was good and ready. He’s just a good overall horse.”
The 7-year-old drew the rail at Freehold, and Bryan took it from there.
“I figured if I went a nice and easy (28 seconds) in the first quarter, then came back and saw how far I could go with it I knew he could take me the rest of the way,” Andersen said. “He ended up going (1):53 and 4. I cut the mile and it was wire-to-wire.”
It was his first win, but not his first time in the money. In 19 drives this year, Andersen has hit the board six times and 33 times as a trainer in 79 starts (with 10 wins).
“I want to do both,” he said. “I want to be able to have a barn with a comfortable 30, with a few people working with me; and be able to drive my own but catch drive as well.”
Needless to say, the family has changed its thinking on Bryan’s career choice.
“They’re all happy for me,” he said. “As of right now, starting out, I’m absolutely happy with where I’m at. I’ve had a killer year as a trainer so far with me just starting out. I’m pretty sure my horses have cleared over $100,000 this year ($141,052 to be exact). It’s been awesome. It took a little longer to get my driver’s license and I still have a lot to learn, but I couldn’t honestly be happier.”
This story has also been posted to the USTA website. Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @