My horses were also about 30 minutes away at Pompan Park. We used to get there veryearly and watch the horses on the training track. I used to chat with trainers like Bill Popfinger, Tom Harmer, and Gordon Norris. It was so cool to talk with them. The experiences they told me about were so interesting. Pompano had a great "track kitchen" right in the paddock area. Was such a great experience being such a very "small part" of harness racing.
My horses are 30 minutes away and I value all of the same things you do. (the people, the animals, the process)
Winning is a bonus and anyone thinking they have a "new", high success strategy to make money racing them, is living in lala land.