LOS ALAMITOS : Credits Are Fine, but He Will Take Winner’s Circle

It’s a little-known fact that Alan Kirschenbaum, co-executive producer of the television show “Coach,” has a long history in harness racing. But the secret is out after he won for the first time last Thursday at Los Alamitos Race Course, driving Sara S Collins in a $2,600 maiden race.

By day, Kirschenbaum is a television executive, putting in much more than the average 40-hour work week. Although he is successful, producing a television show wasn’t among his first career choices.

Ever since his initial trips to the race track with his father and uncle, Kirschenbaum knew he wanted to work with harness horses.

“It just clicked,” he said.

At 17, Kirschenbaum gained his first hands-on experience with harness horses, working as a groom for trainer Eddie Cobb during the summer. He continued grooming through college, attending the University of Pennsylvania “because it was close to a race track.”

After earning a degree in marketing, he spent a year at a sports marketing firm, where he worked on accounts such as the Breeders’ Cup and Breeders’ Crown.

But Kirschenbaum soon decided full-time marketing was not for him, so he turned to something he enjoyed: harness racing, working as a groom and assistant trainer for George Berkner before deciding to train full-time on his own.

With little financial backing, his barn housed mostly cheap claimers, making it hard for him to succeed as a trainer at the nation’s most successful harness track, the Meadowlands.

At the same time, Kirschenbaum still did free-lance marketing work for the Breeders’ Cup and Breeders’ Crown and became involved in telecasting harness racing shows from the track.

But after three years, Kirschenbaum came to a realization.

“It became apparent that this was not what I was put on this earth to spend most of my time doing,” he said.

So Kirschenbaum turned to something else he enjoyed--making people laugh.

“I was always the class-clown type,” he said. “I always fancied myself a funny person.”

Kirschenbaum started writing for the National Lampoon and eventually moved to television scripts. He got an agent, and, after the screenwriter’s strike of 1987-88, he landed his first job working on the television series “Dear John.” He worked on three more shows before being hired by his most successful show, “Coach.”

Around the race track, fellow drivers and trainers call Kirschenbaum “The Coach.”

“In any field, people find what you do for a living more interesting than you do, yourself,” he said. “Steve Warrington, Doug Ackerman, these guys are so good at what they do. I really look up to them. And they couldn’t be less impressed with themselves.”

Now, Kirschenbaum has found a way to keep doing the two things he loves: producing and harness racing, an activity that he considers a second career and not a hobby.

“I just kept trying things I liked,” he said. “I love doing TV shows, and I love seeing my name on TV. . . . I love the race track. God knows it would be financially more healthy to not love it so much.”

Kirschenbaum owns approximately 15 horses, including six broodmares. Most of his horses are on the East Coast with close friends he has made in harness racing.

The horses he has at Los Alamitos are trained by Denise Maier. Kirschenbaum helps out on Saturday mornings.

Unlike most owners, he also drives his own horses. Although he knows that a professional driver might be able to give his horses a better chance, driving is part of the thrill for him.

“Nobody wants to win more than I do. (But) winning a maiden race driving a cheap filly was better than watching a horse of mine win a stakes race,” he said.

“I think everybody needs an adrenaline rush. Some people get it by driving cars fast, others by gambling or cheating on their wives or husbands. I just want to drive harness horses.”

Kirschenbaum, who would like to develop his own successful television show, plans to stay involved in harness racing.

“If I had one last day, if somebody told me I only had one day left, I would spend it in the barn,” he said.

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Best Effort has terrorized Los Alamitos for the last three weeks, winning his third consecutive race last Saturday night. Driven by Warrington, Best Effort took the lead from the outset of the one-mile pace, easily defeating his competition in 1:59 4/5. Best Effort competes in the winners-of-more-than-$10,000-lifetime division for owner Lloyd Arnold of Los Alamitos.

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Longshot Distinguished Baron upset favored Grift in the $8,000 The Fireball pace Saturday night. Nicol Trembley drove Distinguished Baron to the victory, clocking 2:06 for the mile over a sloppy track.

The favored combined entry of trainer Lou Pena and owner Lonnie Beck came through in the $8,000 The Rising Star on Friday night. Full Linda won the mile pace for fillies and mares. Full Linda, driven by James Grundy, was coupled in the wagering with Doitforlinda, who finished fourth. The winning time over a slow track was 2:02 3/5.