A Yonkers landmark, the track began with harness racing when William H.

(Timothy Rooney no longer has any stake in the Steelers as the NFL stipulates that team owners cannot have gambling interests.)īy then the raceway had seen a lot of history. When the Rooney family bought the raceway in 1972, he was a natural to run it. He’s an easy conversationalist, who can flow from Triple Crown winners to pizza parlors (try Johnny’s Pizzeria in Mount Vernon, he says) and conjure images of an underage kid so in love with horses that he’d sneak under a fence or hang out by a barn to catch the racing action.

Timothy Rooney has his mother’s silver tongue. “She was very funny and quick-witted with a lot of old Irish sayings.” She would say, for instance, that someone was “so proper he’d wear a riding hat to eat horseradish.” It wasn’t just his father who instilled these values but his mother, Kathleen. You learned respect for others, honesty, loyalty.” “I really think our successful background comes from our parents.

And that’s absolutely essential no matter what field you’re in.” They’re very talented and they’re interested in working with all the great producers and directors to learn as much as they can. “I see most of their films,” says their proud grandfather, who’s looking forward to catching Rooney Mara’s turn in the Oscar-winning “Her” when it comes to DVD. Among Chris and Kathleen’s children are the actresses Kate Mara, who appeared in the acclaimed series “House of Cards,” and Rooney Mara, who broke through in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Wellington had a Timothy, too – Timothy Christopher “Chris” Mara, the Giants’ vice president of player evaluation, who married Timothy Rooney’s daughter Kathleen. It was the beginning of what we might call Six Degrees of Timothy: Tim Mara had a son named Wellington Timothy Mara, who succeeded his father. The bet paid off big, thanks in part to a tip Tim had given him, so Art honored him by naming his third son Timothy. Art placed this one with a friend and leading bookmaker – Tim Mara, who was also owner of the New York Giants. “In those days, you placed your bet with a bookie, like they do in England and Ireland,” Timothy Rooney says. One of the stories told about the legendary Rooneys – his father, Art, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers, which the family still owns – concerns a bet that Art made around the time the third of his five sons was about to be born. Indeed, he owes his very name to horse racing. Rooney was destined to be president and CEO of Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway. Empire City Trotting Club – now Yonkers Raceway – in 1904.

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