by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — As youngsters growing up in Clinton, Miss., cousins Jordan Patton and Barak Patton would talk about harness racing in excited terms.

Actually, they are still youngsters, as Jordan is 17 and Barak is 15. They’re even more enthused about harness racing these days as each got their first career driving win this past summer.

And suddenly, the “sibling rivalry” competition is officially on!

“Barak and I consider each other as brothers,” Jordan said. “Growing up, all Barak would talk about is him becoming the best driver in the world, so that made me want to see how it felt to go that fast. Barak and I work so hard together, so everything is basically a competition.”

The competition started on make-believe horses that ended up taking a beating.

“I can remember the days where we messed up race bikes acting as if we were driving horses,” Barak said. “I look at him as a big brother, he is my only brother. We both grew up wanting to be drivers.”

Jordan Patton has hit the board in 17 of his 42 career starts.

As the son of trainer Freddie Patton Jr., Jordan was born into a family of horse trainers and drivers. As a kid he would clean stalls and harness horses, “but very rarely did I ever want to sit in the bike.”

With his dad serving as his mentor and through his talks with Barak, however, Jordan got the driving bug. He plays football and runs track at Clinton High School, but horses are his main focus as he serves as second trainer to his dad. He has his fair and qualifying license and plans on getting his provisional license next year.

Aside from talks with Barak, Jordan’s other big push into the sulky came from getting some success.

“My first driving win wasn’t actually an official race, but it gave me a whole new look on driving at a whole different level,” he said. “That win made me want to become a catch driver and hopefully one day drive against the best. The first horse I drove was Shady Maple Fiesty, and at the time she belonged to Barak.”

Jordan’s first official win came on July 13 at the Fairfield Fair behind the Calvin Harris-trained Cam Majic Shooter. Up to that point, Jordan had driven 28 times and finished in the money in 10 of those races.

On the monumental day, Jordan had the second post and his initial thought was to leave and try to get the two-hole trip.

“But as we were leaving, the horse inside of me never made it to the gate so that forced me to leave,” Patton explained. “As I was leaving my horse put in a few extra steps because I held her snuggly, so this forced me to loosen up on her. Once I did that she paced away from the field to put a good gap in between me and the horse that was second.”

After the quarter, Jordan backed his horse down to let the field settle in his back, but driver Frank Affrunti quickly pulled his horse.

“This made my filly pick the bits back up,” he said. “As Frank and I raced to the half I could see that his horse was getting weak so I asked my filly to go on a little bit more. After Frank faded away I called on my horse and she pulled away and we never saw the field again.”

As he came across the wire, Jordan was surprised at the exhilaration he felt.

“It wasn’t what I expected,” he said. “At first I thought I would (feel) normal, but once I had done it, it felt amazing.”

Photos courtesy of Jordan Patton

Jordan Patton is sitting first and Barak Patton is third on the rail in this photo.

Since then, one of his big highlights was driving in a four-horse race in which every driver was related to him. He is quick to thank Roshun Trigg and Harris “for putting me on their horses and I would like to thank all of my family for being so supportive and Marcus Miller for the tips he has given me on driving.”

Patton hopes the win at Fairfield is only the start. He plans on making harness racing a career but will attend college classes in the afternoon so he will be able to drive at night.

“I want to be one of Chicago’s top drivers in the next couple of years,” he said.

And he hopes that Barak — who yes, is often referred to as “Obama” or “Mr. President” — is right there with him.

Barak was introduced to the sport by his and Jordan’s grandfather, Freddie Patton Sr.

“When I was only three years old my grandfather had race horses and I would sit in his lap and he would let me jog,” Barak recalled. “When I reached the age of ten he put me on the cart by myself. When I was 13 I started breaking horses and training them.”

Barak’s aunt has him being home schooled online, so he has been able to help his grandfather train horses.

It only took him two drives to notch his first amateur win. He drove in his first race last year, and in his first race this year (on July 29) he took first with Bad Girlfriend — also trained by Harris — at the Charleston Fair. In getting the win, he used some advice he got from Jordan’s dad.

“I had the three hole and I went to the front so I didn’t check up,” he said. “As my uncle, Freddie Patton, Jr. taught me, if I get to the front make them chase me and I did. After the half I saw a horse coming so I pulled my horse’s ear plugs so she could hear. In the last turn, a horse rushed beside her and she took back off as if she didn’t like horses beside her.”

That’s probably not a bad mindset for a racehorse.

As he came across the line, Barak said “I was happy for myself, but more for the horse.”

Like Jordan, Barak’s goal is to become a successful driver in Illinois.

If both cousins get their wish, it could be a fun family rivalry to watch for in the future.