by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — It was the summer of 2017 and Declan Donoway was driving his first race at Goshen Historic Track in upstate New York. Also in the field were Hambletonian winners Ray Schnittker and Scott Zeron, one of Donoway’s biggest influences.

Declan finished fifth, but won’t soon forget the journey.

“It was a stakes race, and it’s exciting being out there at Goshen,” he said “There was a real big crowd there; I’d only been on the fair tracks at home (in the Maryland Eastern Shore region). The most memorable part in the race was when I was coming around that last turn, I looked next to me to see who was there and it was Scott Zeron right next to me. That was exciting because he’s probably one of the drivers I most look up to.”

At that moment, many young drivers might have frozen, wondering what the heck they were doing there against harness racing’s most recent Triple Crown-winning driver. But at 18, Donoway is savvy beyond his years.

“For a second, I thought about it, and then I just went on,” he said. “It never really hit me until after the race and I was on my way back home that I really started thinking about it.”

Photo courtesy of Declan Donoway

Declan Donoway is hoping to make a name for himself as a driver.

Flash forward to Feb. 25 of this year. Donoway got behind 11-year-old gelding pacer Hrubys N Luck, who is trained by his step-father, Brian Malone. The site was Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland and it was Declan’s first pari-mutuel start.

It will also live as his most memorable start, at least for a while.

Driving with the wisdom of a veteran, Donoway guided the horse to victory by 6-1/4 lengths.

Prior to the race, Malone told Declan that Hrubys N Luck would likely not go out fast, based on past races. But with one of his favorite drivers in the sulky, the horse decided otherwise and paced a :26.3 first quarter.

“Dad always said he got along with me because I drove him at Pocomoke (Fair) this past summer and won with him,” Declan said. “Dad thought I got along with him the best of any driver. When I asked him to go out the gate, he just wanted to go more than he did in qualifiers and fairs. We were planning on getting back third or fourth and either coming first up or second over. We had no thoughts on getting on the front.”

Once he took the lead, it would have been easy for Donoway to try and extend it. What young driver wouldn’t, when it comes to such an exhilarating start in their first race? But the Delaware native kept it in perspective.

“I thought ‘Man he’s probably going to quit on me, so I’ve got to kind of back it down a little bit,’” said Donoway, who brought it back to a :29.4 second quarter, a :29 third quarter and a :29.1 final quarter.

“That’s how I saved my horse,” Donoway said. “I’ve got a lot to learn; I only drove a couple races in my life. But I knew what I was doing when I got on the front.”

That’s what happens when a rookie listens to veteran advice.

“My dad has taught me a lot,” Donoway said. “I watched other drivers and I’ve talked to him, he’s taught me pretty much everything. And I’ve talked to other drivers and they’ve taught me some stuff. I knew what I had to do when I got on the front. I know how the fractions work.

“A lot of races, you get to the quarter like that and you just keep on going, but you’re not going to have anything for the end. My dad always said, ‘You don’t win races at the quarter, the half, or the three-quarters, you win ‘em at the finish.’”

And it was Malone, who runs Brian Malone Racing Stable in Delmar, Del., that paved the way for Donoway. As a youngster, Declan really didn’t have much interest in horses, as he played football and baseball. One day after school, Malone asked 11-year-old Declan if he wanted to jog a horse.

The response was a less-than-encouraging, “No, not really.”

Despite his reluctance, Donoway decided to appease his dad, saying, “I guess he thought it was finally my time to jog one, so I went down there and jogged it. I kind of wanted to, but I was a little nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t even know what way to steer the horse.”

It took one time and, as they say in the movies, “You had me at hello.”

“Right after I did it, I wanted to do it more,” Declan said. “A couple months later, I was jogging a lot by myself and I liked doing it. About seven months later dad let me train my first horse with him. Everything I ever learned was pretty much from him. That’s the only reason I’m doing it, because he taught me how to do it.”

From that point on, baseball and football were an afterthought. Declan got his first drive at the Great Pocomoke Fair in Pocomoke City, Md. at age 13. The following year on the same track, he got his first win with pacer Party In The USA.

Asked to describe how that felt, Donoway said, “It’s kind of hard to explain. It was exciting, you didn’t really expect anything, you’re just looking to see what actually happens. I was real nervous. You’re nervous on the way down there but once I get on the track, I’m not nervous at all, everything goes away and I’m just paying attention to what I have to do.”

After that win, he declared he wanted a career in driving. But he had been thinking about it for longer than that.

“Probably a couple months after I drove my first horse,” Declan said of his decision. “It’s just exciting being behind there. And then I guess when I first trained my first horse, going that kind of speed was real exciting. I liked winning too.”

Donoway kept plugging away and qualified Hrubys N Luck at Rosecroft. He then drove him to victory shortly after getting his license.

“I couldn’t believe it happened,” he said. “I was definitely smiling when I got back to the winner’s circle and I met dad. Dad was smiling. I still think about it just about every day. It will probably be one of my biggest races, besides if I ever make it up there to being in the Hambletonian and Meadowlands Pace and win one of those. Like Scott Zeron says, your first is probably your most memorable.”

Exactly one month later, he got his second win with Malone-trained Arpeggio Hanover on March 25.

“Declan has done really good so far,” said Malone. “He has shown me he’s really good at rating a horse and has shown a lot of patience. He’s been going training trips with me since he was 13, he knows what to look for when a horse is going and can pick up on things that a horse is doing that needs to be corrected. Above all, his will and want to do the right things on the track is why I believe he is going to be a good driver and competitive. He spends all of his time at the barn and behind a horse.”

Declan is close to graduating from Delmar High School and will then be able to focus completely on the horses.

“I probably want to be a driver and a trainer but if I can make it good enough just to be a driver, that would be fine,” Donoway said. “I really do want to get more drives. I haven’t been picking them up yet because I don’t think a lot of people really know me.”

But he hopes that eventually changes, as Declan’s dreams are big.

“I want to make a name for myself so I can be up there with Corey (Callahan) and Yannick (Gingras) and Scott Zeron at the Meadowlands and Chester and Pocono. I don’t want to just drive little tracks.”

If ambition counts for anything, don’t count him out.