This is about a very special man, some special kids, harness racing, and a chance to change a life.

The inner city can be a dismal place, full of disappointment and despair, and the lowest rung of the life’s ladder. There are those who rise above it, inspired by strong mother, hard-working fathers, or–in their absence–role models who grab them and teach them one-on-one and give them hope on which to cling and goals to which they can aspire. The key is motivation.

This column is about a motivator, a man who, on a school-teacher’s salary and a determination to better the lives of others, has taken promising but endangered kids out of the inner city–even if for only a few hours a week–and taught them that the bond between man and horse can enrich the human experience and make it worth living.

His name is Jay King. We wrote about him two years ago when he had 40 inner-city kids in Syracuse, N.Y., involved in a program he calls SIMPLE, for Special Interest Mentorship Program and Learning Experience.

Now he has 120 kids involved, and he struggles on, determined to find a way to broaden his program and find funding to extend its scope and reach.

King had grabbed these kids by their imaginations and has shown them the joy of accomplishment– the greatest motivator of all–and has done it by having them care for harness horses.

Jay's father, Joe King, was an aeronautical engineer who developed the single shaft sulky. It was rejected by the sport but transformed racing nevertheless, its revolutionary design and use of new materials–and its impact on speed–leading to the many modifications that followed, and continue today.

Joe is gone, but he left a legacy. Jay teaches English in Corcoran High School in Syracuse, N.Y. Understanding the potential of the kids he taught, he was inspired by their desire to rise above their surroundings, and was impressed by their latent skills (including athletic skills–Corcoran's varsity and junior varsity football teams both went undefeated this year and a number of the players are in Jay's program). That's why he started SIMPLE: to give them something constructive to do, something they could relate to, something from which they could derive satisfaction.

Here, from a recent letter, is an example of his one on one technique, his tenacious energy and his irrepressible optimism:

"It is a glorious day in central New York, with the colors increasing daily. I am going to head out to pick up a student who has been assigned to our program to do community service for the unauthorized borrowing of a motorcycle. We will attend a JV football game (he was a member of the Corcoran team), go pick up a load of hay, come back and repair some fences, recuperate, go see Perpetual Dream race at Vernon, spend the night in Cazenovia, have my apple pancakes with NY state maple syrup, repair some more fences (it never ends!), go get another load of hay, return the student home, then return to make next week's lesson plans."

Jay's kids currently are building paddocks for the program's foals, which still have not been weaned because there was no place to put them. The kids care for the horses, learn grooming, feeding and foaling, and would learn training and driving if a facility were available.

Jay has found some help, but not enough. Owner-breeder Jeff Gural, who helped launch the $200,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial Trot at The Meadowlands, has been the most generous to date, providing financial support that included a percentage of the earnings of his New York Sires Stakes-winning filly Kovel.

The Agway Foundation has helped with a $5,000 grant and a matching in-kind contribution of feed from its agricultural products division.

Others have given broodmares, and Jay has them in foal to stallions like B J's Super Star, Esquire Spur, Giant Hit and Sir Taurus, as well as the program's own stud, Hamilton White.

The state fair at Syracuse has provided him with stalls and an indoor facility for winter conditioning.

But his need and his dream is to acquire a small farm near Syracuse–near enough that inner city kids can reach it, big enough that he can expand and tech them harnessing and jogging and training.

That takes money.

If every member of the USTA sent $5 to Jay King, his dreams and those of his kids would be realized. Since that won't happen, it would be nice if those who love the sport–and kids–send whatever their feeling and situation dictate.

The address is The Syracuse Hambletonians Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 628, Cazenovia, NY 13035. It is a 501-c3 corporation, and contributions are tax-deductible. Jay can be reached between 7 and 9 p.m. EST at (315) 655-2244. His e-mail address is bagendfarm@email.msn.com, and he would like to hear not only form contributors but also from other teachers who might be interested in starting similar programs.