by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — It’s one thing to celebrate your first driving win, it’s quite another to celebrate your first three when they come right in a row on the same afternoon.

Or, in Bradley Ferguson’s case, not celebrate them.

“Actually I had to finish out working the day,” Ferguson said of his unforgettable performance. “I didn’t really get much time to celebrate. We had about 19 (horses) in that day. Later on I did. But there wasn’t much celebrating time after the races, it was right back to work.”

That won’t detract from what Ferguson accomplished on July 8 at the Newton County Pun’kin Vine Fair in Kentland, Ind. The 32-year-old could win the Hambletonian and it might only tie that day as his most memorable.

Well, OK, maybe not. But it will definitely put a smile on his face whenever he thinks back on it.

“Oh man it was amazing; I was on top of the world,” Ferguson said. “It was an amazing day.”

Photo courtesy of Bradley Ferguson

Brad Ferguson won three races in a row on July 8 in Kentland.

All three victories came with Don Eash-trained horses, and the historic first came while driving Shelby’s Honor, who Ferguson drove to a fourth-place finish in his driving debut a couple of weeks earlier. Brad drew the rail in the four-horse, 2-year-old colt trot, and had a horse he was familiar with.

“Don gives me some nice horses to drive; and I drove him about four starts and he had been sharp, each start he got a little better,” the Anderson, Ind. product said. “I knew the horses that were in there, and if I could get out in front of them, I could probably beat them. He was pretty good; he got a little rolly through the turns so I had to ease him through the turns.”

At one point, a horse came up on the outside and Ferguson feared that if it got ahead of him, the victory would have been snatched away.

“But I kept him rolling, got him through the turns,” he said. “Actually, there was a pylon that got knocked out in the middle, coming around the last turn. This colt is a super nice colt, he trotted right on through it. He did it pretty easy and we won by a length or two.”

The horse won in 2:15.3 and Brad’s emotions coming across the line were as expected.

“Oh man, that was great,” Ferguson said. “I had the biggest smile on my face; it was just an amazing feeling. I’d been doing this a long time and Don gave me the opportunity to start driving. To get a horse like that and be able to get the first win, it was great.”

And it was only the beginning. Next up was the 3-year-old filly pace with Meadowbrook Sharla. Rather than have the mindset that he finally got his first win, and anything else would be gravy, Ferguson looked at it as another opportunity.

“I thought she was a pretty nice horse too,” he said. “I figured if I could get to the front end, I didn’t think anybody would be able to catch me. I rolled her out of the gate, I got to the front. I just tried to rate the mile where I wasn’t using her too much. Coming out of that last turn I didn’t think they’d be able to get me. I let her go a little bit and she won that one by about five (in 2:04.4). She was good that day.”

Little did Ferguson know another victory was yet to come. Driving 3-year-old gelding pacer E R Vincent, Brad won in 2:03.2.

“I was actually thinking, ‘If I can get a good trip I should be able to do really well with that colt,’” he said. “I sat in the two hole with him through the three-quarter pole. I just got by in the stretch. It was pretty amazing to get three in a row. I didn’t think it was going to happen.

“I wasn’t thinking about winning or whatever. I was just trying to concentrate on driving and getting around there and doing the best I could. To get three in a row, that was a pretty amazing experience. I’m a new driver, I’m first starting out and that was great. I didn’t see that coming at all.”

Ferguson may be new to driving but he’s a veteran when it comes to Standardbreds. Just prior to his 19th birthday, a friend offered him a job with driver/trainer Roger Cullipher in 2004. He began by cleaning stalls and grooming five horses, and started to meet some influential harness racing folks along the way.

“I had never been around horses before but I just took to it and I wanted to stick with it,” he said. “It’s just a good business to be in.”

He stayed with Cullipher for a while and then began working for some other Indiana horsemen before meeting Eash through his contacts. He began working for Don full time in 2014.

“I had been around the business for years and he needed some help and offered me a job,” Ferguson said. “He gave me the opportunity to drive for him.”

Brad kept procrastinating but finally got his driving and training licenses this past spring. He had only driven a handful of races before hitting his July trifecta and, since then, got another win with Shelby’s Honor at the ISA Elite at Portland. He has also hit the board with three seconds and three thirds in his 19 career drives.

Ferguson took to driving immediately as he tries not to let the thrill of being in the bike overwhelm him.

“It’s more or less trying to stay as calm as you can and trying to do it the best you can; but it is a very big rush,” he said. “Especially when you get horses all stacked up around you, it’s an adrenaline rush. You’ve got to stay clear headed and calm.”

Brad credited Eash for being his biggest influence, and hopes to advance his career in both driving and training.

“I’ve groomed for a lot of people over the years, but Don’s actually put me in the position to move ahead by giving me the opportunity to start driving and letting me train a lot of horses,” Ferguson said. “I would like to own some and train and drive a little. I kind of like them both. I’ve been training for years and I just started driving, and I just like it all the way around.”

Even if he can’t celebrate his good fortune immediately after it happens.