Trenton, NJ — Curt Harper became a harness racing driver the usual way. In the Bizarro World, that is.
Harper grew up in a racing family, but his path took him from rugby player to kick boxing champion/gym owner to the sulky. He is likely the first person in harness racing history to have gone that route.
That’s what happens when one will do anything to reach their goal.
“It’s crazy to me, it’s surreal. I’m living the dream every day,” said the 35-year-old Harper, who had two wins, nine seconds and nine thirds through his first 59 career starts, all this year. “I pictured it going this way, but I just can’t believe it’s going the way I had it planned…or had hoped, I should say. Especially with the horses, it’s hard to plan things. But it’s gone as I hoped it would go.”
Growing up in Hilliard, Ohio, Harper was around Standardbreds from the start. He, his father Robert Harper, half-brother Bob Harper (whose son Luke now drives) and uncle Robert DelBianco all had horses through Curt’s high school years.
“I worked with my brother a lot when I was a kid,” Harper said. “I traveled around and watched him drive. It finally got to the point I almost started driving then (between 2005-07). But we weren’t going for much money, it was before we got the slots, so it didn’t look great for business.”
Thus, when Harper received an opportunity to play rugby at The Ohio State University, he took it.
“I’d still go and help my buddy at the Hilliard fairgrounds,” he said. “I kind of dabbled in it but my main thing in college was rugby.”
During that time, Curt found a gym to work out in, and the personal training manager watched him and suggested he become a trainer.
“I took the job so I could get a free membership,” he said.
His boss was an amateur fighter and “a month later I’m in a cage fight. I knocked the guy out in 12 seconds, and I was hooked on that.
“I became a junkie,” Harper continued. “I like being out there performing. I took fighting seriously, ran with it, opened a gym in Hilliard, got my name out there and was able to get a business going.”
Harper had a successful 12-year professional career in kickboxing and some martial arts cage fighting. He built a massive following as a trainer and had up to 100 clients. After retiring from boxing, Harper became restless.
“I had to be competing at something,” he said. “It ate at me every day until it was too much. I was literally dying inside. I was getting depressed. I said, ‘Dude this isn’t you, you’re not somebody who doesn’t go after what you want, and you just need to go do it.’
“I knew I needed to get back into the horses. I always dreamed of driving and that’s what I always thought I’d be doing.”
Thus, Harper cut his client list to just 15 hearty souls who don’t mind getting up at 3 a.m. to join Curt in his daily workouts each day. He literally chased his dream by moving 40 miles north to Delaware, Ohio, and began selling himself at the Delaware County Fairgrounds track.
“I knew what I needed to do,” he said. “I had a lot on my plate when I did that, and I had a really good thing going so logically it made no sense for me to do what I did.”
It appeared to make less sense early in the process. Harper tried to hook on with several trainers “to find somebody who would take me under their wing and help me get back into horses and driving.” After several attempts, Mike Sweeney came along in 2023.
“I didn’t know him from Adam,” Harper said. “Mike saw me on the track one day. He had a bunch of trainers, and he knew I liked to do it. He said ‘Hey, do you want to come over and help me train a few of these things today?’ That’s how it started.
“I think he saw something in me. The way he does things and takes care of his horses, and his style of training is what I want to do. Some of the new school ways I don’t really love. I was brought up with the old school way with training and that’s what I believed is the right way to do it. He still does it that way and it kind of clicked with us and it built from there.”
Curt began working in Sweeney’s barn and worked his way up to second trainer. With help from his mentor, Harper got his fair license prior to the campaign and has driven most of Sweeney’s horses this season.
His first race was at the Paulding County Fair, where he finished fifth. Finally, a lifetime dream had come true.
“The first time I drove it was way different than I thought,” he said. “I thought I’d be all hyped up and panicking but I was really comfortable out there. Mike and I had done hundreds of training miles. It just felt like another training mile.
“But the first horse I drove, of course, I get to the gate and he doesn’t want to go. He’s fighting the gate, giving me problems with that. But it worked out pretty smoothly. I got that drive under my belt.”
That same belt made room for Curt’s first win the next day, June 11, as he drove It’s Miller Time to victory at Paulding.
“It was a green horse, I was a green driver, but I loved the horse training him down and I knew I had some stock,” Harper said. “I got away fourth, right past the half I was able to get him second over and I got a pretty good trip with him. Coming around the last turn I tipped him three wide. He just dug in for me and got me the win.”
It came with a myriad of exciting emotions.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” Harper said. “When I got that horse pulled past the half and I got him second over I just knew I was gonna win. I couldn’t believe the trip set up that way. I just thought ‘You gotta control yourself, don’t get too hyped up, don’t overdrive him, wait for the right moment’ and when I pulled him, I think the horse feels how much I love him, and he just dug in so damn hard for me and I couldn’t believe it. I was in shock. I could hear the owners at the fence yelling.”
His second win came on Aug. 27 at the Morrow County Fair in Mount Gilead with Dewanashotofcrown.
“I’m not much of a liquor drinker, but I did have one shot later,” Harper said with a laugh.
The whole summer has been worth toasting, as Harper took a major gamble in cutting down his business to nearly nothing (he still owns the gym) to pursue a dream. He is close to getting his provisional license and the plan is to begin racing at Dayton Raceway hopefully by the end of this year. The long-range goal is to take over the operation when Sweeney retires.
“Mike’s been great to me,” Harper said. “He’s taken me under his wing. He’s taught me so much. He’s been patient with me and brought me up to do it the right way. We’ve invested a few years in this and for it to come together is cool.”
The toughest part for Harper is trying to believe it’s all true.
“I’ll be out there on the track driving and sometimes I just can’t believe I’m doing it, I can’t believe I’m living it,” he said. “It was hard to keep it together and not cry, especially the first time you go out. I have confidence in myself, but I didn’t know exactly how it would go down, so to go out there and to have it work out, it’s unbelievable.”
In looking at the journey he took, no one would argue at just how unbelievable it has been.