by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ —It might be Chris Doherty’s first race, but the 20-year-old from Monticello, N.Y., will look like a Hall of Famer on Saturday (July 2) afternoon when he makes his career debut in the first of two C.K.G. Billings Amateur Driving Series races at Goshen’s Historic Track.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Chris Doherty honors the memory of his grandfather when he appears in his colors this weekend at Goshen’s Historic Track.

Doherty is the grandson of Hall of Fame driver/trainer Jim Doherty, who passed away in March 2015. Chris will wear his grandfather’s colors Saturday (July 2) when he drives Nowerland Nathan, a 10-year-old trotter from the stable of his uncle Jim Doherty Jr., in the Billings Series event.

The two Billings races are part of a 10-race card Saturday (July 2) at Historic Track, which is located adjacent to the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. The card, which begins at 1 p.m., also includes Landmark Stakes for 2- and 3-year-old pacers and trotters.

Saturday (July 2) is the second of four days of racing at Historic Track and Sunday’s (July 3) festivities include Hall of Fame inductions at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame.

“I’m super excited,” Doherty said. “It’s great to be able to go to Goshen and drive one of my favorite horses. He’s a nice horse and had a pretty good career. He’s been in a couple of amateur races in the past, so he knows what he’s doing. I’m friendly with a lot of the people in the Billings, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Nowerland Nathan has won 36 of 203 career races. He is one of some 15 horses in Doherty Jr.’s stable.

“Chris is a very good kid with a good head on his shoulders,” Doherty Jr. said. “He’s a work in progress as a driver, but he’s got the right frame and the right temperament. He just needs experience.”

Jim Doherty, known as “Gentleman Jim,” was a mainstay at the Meadowlands Racetrack and harness racing’s Trainer of the Year in 2002. During his career his top horses included pacer Green With Envy and trotters No Nonsense Woman, Starchip Entrprise, and Fool’s Goal. Doherty was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.

“My grandfather was the man,” Chris Doherty said. “I used to go to the barn and hang out when I was a kid. And I always go and visit the Hall of Fame whenever we go around there.”

Chris Doherty played multiple sports at Monticello High School, which limited his time around horses, but since graduating has spent the better part of two years working with his uncle. Doherty’s father, Mike, also is a trainer and has driven in more than 1,000 races.

“Working with the horses has always been in the back of my mind,” Chris Doherty said. “I’m not too sure where it will go from here. We’re just going to play it by ear. But I enjoy it. It’s hard to pick just one thing about it that I enjoy, but probably race day, watching them race.”

The Doherty family’s excitement won’t be limited to watching Chris drive in the Billings Series. Doherty Jr. will send out Reverend Nanny in the Landmark Stakes for 2-year-old female trotters on Saturday, and a day later he will send out Linda Marie in the Hall of Fame Trot. Jimmy Takter will drive Linda Maria, a 5-year-old mare bred by Doherty’s father.

“My father gave her to my brother Mike and I,” Doherty Jr. said. “I trained her down and she would win constantly. She was a great source of inspiration when my dad was sick.”

Doherty Jr. trained the Hall of Fame Trot winner in 2014, CSI What’s My Name, driven by Ron Pierce.

“I was lucky enough to win it that year, and it’s nice to have another crack at it,” Doherty Jr. said. “We’re just going to hope for the best this weekend. It should be fun.”