Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Brandon Bates was putting the finishing touches on the greatest driving year of his life.

And then came the unthinkable.

On Nov. 27, 2021, the University of Michigan football team defeated Bates’ beloved Ohio State Buckeyes for the first time in nine years, thwarting OSU’s shot at a Big 10 and national title.

“Yeah,” Bates said with a laugh. “That left a little sour taste in our mouth.”

But he got over it, right?

“Yeah,” he said, “but I haven’t forgotten it though.”

Brandon Bates recorded career highs with 188 victories and $2.56 million in purses last year, driving predominantly at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Linscott Photography.

Fortunately, there were a lot of great memories to override that game, as Bates recorded career highs with 188 victories and $2.56 million in purses, driving predominantly at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

“What a wonderful year,” the 46-year-old Ohio native said. “It just seems like over the last six or seven years everything has just gotten better every year on the training side and especially the driving side. I’m just getting more and more work and more importantly, more quality work.”

For Bates, it is the result of reaping what one sows. He considers himself a blue-collar guy and doesn’t shy from hard work in and out of racing. In fact, he thrives on it.

When he and wife Alicia had their children at a young age — Brandon’s first was born when he was 21 — she was working while pursuing a master’s degree and he was not established enough to make a living as a trainer or driver.

Since Alicia was working in Decatur, Ind., they relocated to the Hoosier State in 1997 and Brandon took a job in HVHC plumbing before moving on to a soybean processing facility. It was not easy work as he loaded bulk oil onto semitrucks and tankers, and eventually loaded cubes of shortening and cooking oil that weighed 35 or 55 pounds.

All the while he kept his hand in racing as a trainer and driver but never had more than 300 drives until 2009. Once Alicia got her master’s she became a nurse practitioner.

“After that our agreement was, once things become more comfortable for us maybe I could start looking into doing something that I enjoy more,” Bates said. “It’s worked out wonderfully.”

The couple’s dedication benefited their children, who never showed a true interest in harness racing as a career.

Daughter Halle, age 25, graduated from Wright State University in Ohio, the same as her mom, and is now a kindergarten/preschool teacher. Hunter, 24, played football and wrestled at Wabash College and earned a degree in biology with a minor in chemistry.  Unfortunately, “we kind of lost him somewhere,” Bates said, and the middle child abandoned the Buckeyes to become an Oregon Ducks fan. Parker, who will be 22 in September, is in his senior year at Indiana Tech, where he plays baseball and will earn a degree in general engineering. Bates is happy to report he still roots for Ohio State.

With the family taken care of, Brandon was able to focus on a sport that his family never quite embraced. Bates is a fourth-generation horseman but the first of his clan to take harness racing seriously.

“For a lot of them it was a hobby, or something they just enjoyed as a pastime,” Bates said. “But I’m a competitive guy, I love the competition, I thrive on that. I love the physicality of it.

“I’m a blue-collar guy, I like to get my hands dirty. I enjoy working for a living, using my hands, and putting up with some blood, sweat and tears. To be locked up in an office or building is not about me. I like to get out and do it.”

Brandon Bates has 1,368 career wins and $13.07 million in earnings. Dean Gillette Photography.

Bates’ star began to rise in 2017 when he had a then-career high of 1,362 driving starts and 155 wins. He cracked the million-dollar mark in earnings for the first time with $1.60 million. Those totals improved to 1,375, 163 and $1.71 million the following campaign. His numbers dipped slightly in 2019 and the Covid-plagued year of 2020 but he still won more than $3.25 million in those two years combined.

He exploded for career bests in all three categories last year, and this season has 72 wins and $770,719 in purses. Bates’ 50 victories at Hoosier Park are second to perennial track champ Trace Tetrick, who leads with 76.

Bates is candid about the situation, saying it’s basically the race for second behind Tetrick at Hoosier Park.

“You hate to say it, but when you have somebody that dominant with the best barns, that’s just the truth,” he said. “He’s going to get all the best picks, the doubles. After that it’s more or less a free for all, whoever can acquire the better horses and do their job the best and we’re going to run second to him. But I couldn’t be happier with how it’s going this year.”

And he’s more than happy to be at Hoosier Park. Brandon raced there and at Indiana fairs intermittently when he and Alicia first relocated. As a Midwest guy, he loves the Midwest feel the track exudes.

“It’s always been a top-class facility; you couldn’t ask for a better place to race,” he said. “They’ve got, in my opinion, probably the best working paddock in the industry. You like to think the playing field here is much more level.

“And it’s just a great atmosphere. Especially on holiday weekends, big nights, they still draw crowds here. I really like that. I like to see people on the apron, communicating back and forth with them before and after races. It’s almost like it’s a fan club for certain people.”

Brandon is probably picking up a few fans with the way he has been going. He passes along the credit for his recent success to the trainers he drives for, as well as cutting back on training himself. At the moment he trains just two horses, one of which, 3-year-old trotting colt Swanstrofthemidway, will make his first career start Thursday.

“I decided to cut back on the training because I went from a Type 2 diabetic to Type 1,” Bates said. “At the advice of my doctor and wife, not to toot my horn, but with the way I work and with the hours I put in, if I didn’t do something I was going to have some problems pretty quickly.

“So, I decided to cut back on the horses, training in the morning. I started angling toward hopefully better ones and ones that I own part of. It basically got to the point where if I didn’t want to own part of them, or they weren’t upper-level horses, I didn’t need to be training them.”

Although he has 1,368 career wins and $13.07 million in earnings, Bates does not let the sport dominate his being. He lives a well-balanced life that included watching his children’s activities as they grew up. He now enjoys watching the kids of his friends at school events and goes horseback riding around the scenic Indiana trails and woods with friends.

Brandon laughs when he says, “it may sound funny but when I watch TV, I like to watch mysteries and murder shows to help me relax.” And he has a good friend that he visits each Monday, as the two enjoy a few beers and catch up on things.

“I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse, but I’ve always had a switch where I can turn things on and off,” Bates said. “When I’m at home I rarely think or even discuss horses or my job.

“When I’m at the farm or the track I flip that switch and I’m all about what I’m doing then. It’s hard to explain, but it’s just something I’ve always been able to do. I can just turn it on or turn it off. I really think that helps me in both aspects of my life.”

Despite the laid-back attitude, he still gets a rush from driving.

“Oh absolutely,” Bates said. “I can’t wait to climb into the race bike seat every night, do my job and try to do as well as I can. I still like to win. That’s me.”

His biggest win was in a Breeders Crown elimination at Woodbine Mohawk Park in Canada in 2019 with 2-year-old female pacer Priceless.

“That was probably the top tier,” he said. “That was on a national stage — actually a continent stage being in Canada. I went into that race probably as confident as I ever was in my life, but she scoped a little sick after that and that’s the way it goes.”

He considers Swandre The Giant the best horse he ever trained or owned. Bates trained and drove the trotter at the beginning of his career before he was sold to other connections.

“Swandre The Giant was just a freak,” Bates said. “Before he left my barn, without sounding ostentatious, I don’t know how you could ever get that horse beat. He was just push-button.

“Being a 2-year-old, mentally he was like a 6-year-old, nothing bothered him, a complete professional. An outstanding athlete. I don’t know that I’ve ever been associated with a better horse.”

Although he doesn’t live and die with harness racing, Bates is hardly thinking of the day he hangs it up, especially with how he’s going now. He will just see how things play out each year.

“The last thing I want to do is be irrelevant,” he said. “I don’t want to be that guy out there that’s getting in the way or is just not as sharp as he used to be.

“I am very competitive, and I just don’t want to be bad at what I do. I may train longer than I drive, I may just walk away altogether. It’s year to year. I don’t want to do it forever. As long as I’m fit and able and competitive, I’ll march on for four or five more years for sure and see what the next opportunity brings me, and we’ll go with that.”

For now, however, he is a man living a truly contented life.

“I really couldn’t be happier,” Brandon said. “I almost feel guilty. It’s like I’m having my cake and eating it too.”