by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Brady Brown had just discovered, very much to his surprise, that he was receiving the inaugural Walter “Boots” Dunn Rising Star Award. As he walked up to accept the honor, from Boots himself no less, during the annual Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association banquet on Jan. 23, one thought ran through his head.

Was it of fame and fortune? Was it of how many Hambletonian wins he might eventually pocket?

“I thought about falling over, actually,” Brown said. “I’m like ‘Did they say the right name?’ It meant a lot, it was a good surprise. I didn’t know anything about the award going up there; that was their first one.

“It was pretty cool. It’s a great thing, especially having Boots there presenting it to me; it was pretty great. But I was pretty shocked.”

Unfortunately, Dunn passed away at the age of 85 a little more than a week after the banquet. Dunn was a horseman since the late 1940s and a U.S. Trotting Association director since 1987. He trained and drove his own horses, maintaining his amateur status and competing across eight different decades. He is believed to be the leading amateur driver of all time, with 1,152 wins to his credit.

Photo courtesy of Brady Brown

Brady Brown won 72 of 584 races in 2015, with $468,631 in purses.

The 22-year-old Brown was named the first winner of the inaugural Walter “Boots” Dunn Rising Star Award after finishing fourth in the Pennsylvania fair driving standings last year. The Slippery Rock, Pa., resident won 72 of 584 races — including 25 scores at The Meadows — and $468,631 in purses.

So far this season he has three firsts at The Meadows and his goal is to win more than 100 races between The Meadows and his fair drives.

“I think that would be pretty cool,” said Brown, who has collected numerous seconds and thirds this year.

Brady’s grandfather Robert “Brownie” Brown and father, Terry Brown, owned and trained horses so he grew up in the sport. He would do chores around the barn and jogged his first horse at age 10.

“I went as much as I could to the barn; if I could get out of school to go, I went,” Brown said. “It’s just what I wanted to do.”

He eventually hooked up with trainer Steve Schoeffel, who had a stable at the opposite end of the barn. Schoeffel had nearly 20 horses at the Butler Fairgrounds at the time.

“I started going over to Steve’s side and helping him jog horses,” Brown said. “He had a lot of horses that were easy to jog, I started jogging for him and it went on from there.”

Brady got his qualifying-and-fair license at age 16 but did not have a sterling debut.

“Oh boy,” he said with a laugh. “My first drive, I think it was at the Butler Fair. I forget the horse’s name but no, I did not do any good with it.”

Later that year, Brown got his first win — in a dead heat — with 2-year-old filly pacer Camerosa at Hughesville.

After his junior year of high school, Brady caused a temporary rift in the family when he decided to drop out and focus all his energies on harness racing. He made the decision that summer, as he did not want to give up driving at fairs to return to school.

“Neither of my parents were too thrilled about it,” Brown said. “But they’ve kind of gotten over it, through the years.”

That’s because, as Brown said, his career has been “so far, so good…knock on wood.”

Brown’s first win at The Meadows came in 2013 when he drove Luminosity to victory.

“That one I definitely remember,” Brown said. “He was probably the best horse in the whole field. I left out of there, got the front in like :28.4, went a little fast to the quarter. Once I got him settled in and everything, he was fine. He was the best horse that day. I think it was a maiden trot actually; I went in 2:00 with him.”

When he came across the finish line first, the feeling was more of relief than elation.

“Just trying to get there, I was so close, I just couldn’t get it,” he said. “I finally got it on this one and I was like ‘Whew! It’s about time.’”

Things have just kept getting better, resulting in a career season in 2015. Brady has gotten a big boost from Schoeffel.

“Steve is a big part of the reason I’m where I’m at right now,” Brown said. “I’m driving and everything because of him. He cut me loose on some decent horses he knew, made me look good and helped me get drives down there at The Meadows. (Trainer) Rich Gillock has also been helping.”

Brady called last year a “great year, a fun year” but he knows there is still much to learn. He feels that being at The Meadows is a tremendous classroom, considering 2015 national dash champion Aaron Merriman is a regular there.

“He’s a helluva driver,” Brown said. “He’s a very nice guy, the greatest guy in the world to talk to, but he’s very aggressive on the race track, he can get a horse to go. He is very good. He can keep one alive. I just pay attention to him to see what he does with one.”

Merriman is not the only guy that Brown watches. At the ripe old age of 22, he’s smart enough to realize he doesn’t know it all. And when there are guys like Dave Palone, the sport’s all-time winningest driver, in the same race, Brady pays attention.

“It helps out a lot, especially when you’re sitting there and you’re in the race with them, you get to see what those guys do with the horse,” Brown said. “You go down to The Meadows, it’s just totally different from the fairs. It’s amazing and it’s pretty cool you’re in there competing with them.

“They’re tough on us. To be catch drivers down there, they’re really good drivers.”

And Brown understands that despite his success last year, he still needs to soak up everything he can from everyone he can.

“I’m not a person who says ‘This is my way, this is the only way it’s going to work,’” Brown said. “I watch everybody. I try picking it up and learning and see how things go. I’m not going to be a know it all.”

One thing he knows is that he would like to get as many drives at The Meadows as possible. The only other track he currently has an eye on is Pocono.

“I think that place is absolutely awesome,” he said. “They go some wicked miles out there.”

Brown is not making any long-range plans. At the moment, he works for Schoeffel in the morning and then heads for the track.

“Right now, I just like to drive and if things went the right direction for me being a driver, I’d stick with it,” Brown said. “I’m driving Steve’s whole stable. One day I’ll slow down and just go back to training horses.”

The good news is, if he continues to garner more driving success, he already knows he won’t fall down if he has to accept another award.