Ex-horse trainer featured on MDA telethon
By Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy • The Journal News • August 31, 2008


Gary Baker, who will be featured on the national broadcast of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, is reflected in a mirror in Purchase. Baker, who has ALS and uses a power wheelchair for mobility, maintains an interest in harness racing and has hosted the Secure-A-Cure Golf Classic for the past two years to raise money for ALS research. (Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

On TV
The Jerry Lewis MDA telethon will be shown in this area on WWOR, Channel 9, from 9 tonight until about 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. Segments on Gary Baker are scheduled at 8:40 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. tomorrow.

On the Web
For more information on the Muscular Dystrophy Association, go to www.mda.org.


Until the age of 55, Gary Baker lived a fast and exciting life training Standardbred horses - the trotters used in harness racing.

The White Plains native created a niche for himself in the sport by specializing in selecting yearlings for his clients, conditioning them until they were ready to race and then passing them on to other trainers.

"I just loved the horses and going fast," said Baker, who established a reputation for himself working in New York, California and Florida.

And he never looked back in his career spanning more than 35 years.

Until five years ago.

In early 2003, Baker said, his legs started getting tired. His doctor believed that two bulging spinal discs were pressuring his lower back and that he might need surgery.

"But the doctor also told me that more was being affected than should be with two discs pressing," Baker said.

It was only when he arrived at Columbia University Medical Center to meet a neurologist to whom he was referred that he realized what they'd suspected.

"When I reached the ninth floor, it said 'The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center,' " he recalled. "I couldn't believe it."

Baker, 60, will be featured in a videotaped profile on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon this weekend.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a voluntary health agency aimed at conquering neuromuscular diseases that affect more than 1 million Americans.

By 2005, Baker had started limping, and soon after had to start using a wheelchair to get around.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease" after the Yankee great was diagnosed with it, is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord responsible for voluntary muscle movement.

The progressively fatal disease makes even simple body movements nearly impossible.

Baker moved in with close friends Robin and Steven Arnold of Purchase in May 2006, when he could no longer take care of himself.

The Arnolds, also harness-racing enthusiasts who own 12 horses, have known Baker more than 20 years as a friend and trainer.

Last year, the threesome started the Secure-A-Cure Golf Classic tournament to raise money for ALS research.

"In the last two years, they raised more than $250,000 for research," said Diedre Treanor, district director for MDA's Hawthorne office, which covers, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Fairfield counties.

"Gary comes from such an interesting career path, and he took something in his life that was not great, and made it something with a positive outcome," Treanor said.

Harness racing, in which Standardbreds race around a track pulling a driver in a two-wheeled "sulky," was a career Baker was passionate about and started in when he was 20.

Robin Arnold, who opened her home to her friend, said the past two years have taught her to be thankful for simple, everyday pleasures.

"Basically, when I wake up every morning, the fact that I can do whatever I want to do has made me appreciate my life so much more," she said.

For Baker, who has experienced some difficulty breathing since last month, the golf tournament is about raising awareness.

"I have spent my whole life outdoors: I never smoked, I hardly drank, and there was no family history," Baker said. "It's a pretty hard thing to accept. What I realized is that anyone can be unfortunate enough to be afflicted by this disease, and that's a tough pill to swallow."

Reach Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy at svenugop@lohud.com or 914-694-5004.



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