by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — George Harrison already has an interesting tale to tell and, the way he looks at it, he’s only penned Chapter One of “The Comeback.”

After 25 years as a Thoroughbred exercise rider, in which he turned out some pretty talented horses, Harrison returned to Standardbreds this past year and gained his first driving win at age 56. He added another, giving him two in nine starts and sending his confidence soaring.

Rather than calling it a middle-aged whim and retreating into the shadows, Harrison is looking at it as a new beginning.

“I’m pumping up for a full season,” he said. “I’m going to compete. Hopefully I’ll be one of the top catch drivers next year. That’s my goal, absolutely. If I do anything less than that I’ll be disappointed.”

Whether he is one of the best or not, you have to love the guy’s confidence and determination. Much of it has to do with the 50-pound chip on his shoulder.

Fotowon photo

George Harrison steered Head First to his first win as a driver on Oct. 13 at Vernon Downs. The duo were also victorious on Nov. 4 (above) at Vernon.

“There’s those doubters, you know how doubters are,” Harrison said. “You go to another business and come back, people are telling me ‘Oh the business has changed, it’s not the same, you’ll never make it, no one will give you a drive.’ All that kind of stuff.

“But with me it was hitting, I was wanting it. I loved the Standardbreds. As more people told me it was too late for me, I wanted it even more. Hell, I didn’t leave the horses, I just tried a different venue of them.”

Harrison was born into the Standardbred business, as his dad, Jack, was a trainer and driver at Vernon Downs. At age 20, George struck out on his own in 1980 and took a groom’s job with Continental Farms.

“I became the first American to ever work with the Swedish people,” he said.

In 1984 he got his P license and drove until 1990. Vernon Downs shut down and Harrison went to Lexington’s Red Mile for the fall meet. Suddenly, the business was imploding all around him.

“Castleton Farms, the biggest farm for United States trotters, was sold,” he said. “All the tracks in Kentucky were going out of business except the Red Mile. I was like ‘Holy crap, what’s happening?’ The business just looked bleak that year so I went over to the Thoroughbreds.”

A New York native, Harrison was living in Kentucky at the time and a friend suggested he try to hook up with Keeneland Race Course in Lexington for the winter. If it didn’t work out, he could always go back to the Red Mile.

“So don’t you know, they put me on a horse as an exercise rider,” Harrison said. “It was my Standardbred knowledge, more than anything, that these Thoroughbred people loved. Because in the Standardbreds, you’re working more hands on. I was telling these guys things that no other (exercise) rider was telling them, because they didn’t know.”

Before long, Harrison’s riding career exploded.

“I was like a specialty rider,” he said. “I was getting calls from all the top guys from Saratoga to Kentucky to Gulfstream to come in and freelance ride the horses because of my Standardbred knowledge.”

Although he never rode in actual races, Harrison took great pride in any horse that did well that he worked with. In 1995 he was exercise rider for Tejano Run, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby, and made $1.1 million.

And while he loved the job, there were also some drawbacks. Not the least of which was giving them over to a jockey after he did so much work.

“We rode the horse from the time you put a saddle on it,” Harrison said. “You break the babies all the way. We teach that horse everything it has to know, until the jockey gets on the horse and races it. In that sense, it’s such a sad business. You got to hand the horse off to the jockeys and they can screw up and it’s out of your hands.

“Now, you know what? It’s all in my hands.”

Indeed it is. By age 55, Harrison felt himself getting older and heavier in a changing business. He left the Thoroughbred business, returned to his home in New Hartford, N.Y., and one day took a walk around Vernon Downs. Trainer Dan Daley saw him there and asked Harrison if he wanted to drive horses for him in the summer.

“I said sure. I always was a Standardbred race fan,” he said. “It wasn’t like it was out of my blood. So I got driving for Dan Daley, and everything stated boiling again. It was like ‘Hey now I want to get my trainer’s license back, now I want to drive.’”

Harrison bought his own horse for $2,000 “that barely made it into claimers” and got both his trainer’s and driver’s licenses. He was told he could start driving again if he got two qualifying drives, which he did.

“I never lost my touch,” Harrison said. “It was different. The business did change. You had the quick hitch harness, all drivers had their own sulkies with the speed wheels, it was a little bit different training methods and little bit different driving methods and a little bit different equipment. But a horse is a horse, I don’t care what equipment you put on it.”

Harrison dove headlong into working with his horse, Head First, and worked her up from a $4,000 claimer to high-level conditions. On Oct. 13 at Vernon Downs, Harrison drove her to his first official win.

“The win was ecstatic,” he said. “When I crossed that finish line, I raised my whip, looked at the camera and shouted out ‘Yahoo!’ I had everybody putting me down, or everybody was a non-fan and was doubting me. I had nothing but doubters, but to pull that off in only my (fifth) start back and with my very own horse that I bought, trained and drove was just great.”

The win came in his third start with Head First, and three starts later Harrison used a strategic drive to overcome some of Vernon Downs’ top drivers and win by 3-3/4 lengths.

“I got a little name for myself after that second win,” Harrison said. “I planned the race. It’s all about knowing your competition. No matter what sport, it helps to know who and what you’re up against.”

Harrison has since bought two more horses and plans on racing both next year, along with Head First.

“I was confident and I knew what I wanted to do and I did it,” he said. “I see no holding me back.”

In other words, George Harrison is already sharpening his pencil for the writing of Chapter Two.