by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — When Jonathan Roberts guided Rumpointer to victory in the fifth race at Dover Downs on Saturday, Dec. 3, he joined the 2,000 win club, yet to him that’s really not such a big deal.

“It’s another milestone and honestly, I never really thought I would get there,” explained the 30-year-old Dover, Del., resident. “I didn’t set a whole lot of goals when I started driving and when I got my 1,000th win I didn’t even know it. A day or two later I was told it was my 1,000th win. I still don’t set a lot of goals or tout my wins. I just like to do it and I take it more day by day then keeping track of my wins or doing other stuff like that.”

Although his grandfather, Sam, and his father, William (Bib), were both involved in harness racing, Jon wasn’t so sure he wanted to continue in the family tradition during his youth.

“My grandfather got into it as sort of a hobby and my dad went into it full-time,” Roberts said. “I was around the barn at an early age. Actually whenever I could walk, I was at the barn and I started working for my dad when I was about 11 or 12. I really wanted nothing to do with the horses until I got to be about 16 or so and then I only really wanted to drive. That’s when I started taking an interest in racing.”

Fotowon photo

Jonathan Roberts celebrates in the winner’s circle after his 2,000th career win on Dec. 3.

Roberts first took the reins pari-mutuelly in 1999 at age 18 and spent the first four years of his career mainly driving for his dad. 2000 was his first full year of racing and he was victorious in 15 of his 160 miles with earnings of just over $51,000. In 2001, the then 20-year-old really began taking his chosen profession to another level. He nearly tripled his amount of drives to 407 and reached the winner’s circle on 45 occasions while banking $205,081.

Until 2008, which was Roberts’ best year to date earnings-wise with more than $2.5 million in purse money, the Maryland native improved his earnings, number of victories and Universal Driver’s Rating. In 2009, Roberts still collected more than $2 million and had his picture taken 141 times.

Last year he missed several months in the bike due to three fractured vertebre from an accident at Dover Downs in March, but still managed 165 triumphs and a little more than $1.9 million in purse money.

“It (the back injury) really wasn’t that bad,” Roberts said. “It was more difficult for me not to race than to come back. I felt good about a week after the accident and it was a lot harder for me to stay out of the sulky than to get back in it. I knew I had to give my back enough time to heal, but it was rough not to be out there when I actually felt pretty good.”

This year he has won 228 contests and added more than $2.2 million to his financial accounts, and while he admits the money is important only to support his family, Roberts remains in the bike because of how it makes him feel.

Ken Weingartner photo

Jonathan Roberts has won 228 races this year with earnings of $2.2 million.

“I like the horses, but I’m very competitive and would rather be out there doing it myself,” he said. “I think I started doing this for the excitement and it can get a little monotonous when you start racing at two tracks a day and then you get up the next day to do it all over again, but it really doesn’t get better.”

He’s captured stakes races and been behind some nice horses, yet one of the races embedded in his memory is associated with his very first win.

“It was Valentine’s Day in 2000 and my mom was there at the track,” Roberts recalled. “It was the first race I ever won and I remember it vividly. There is certainly other stuff I remember, but some of my favorite horses also stand out. I have a lot of them and maybe they weren’t the best horses, but I looked forward to driving them all week long. Those horses stand out to me more than the stakes races.

“I think my favorite part about driving is trying to outsmart the other guys,” he continued. “It’s like a chess game. Even when you are not on the track, you are trying to get the right horses to drive, trying to pick one horse over the other and trying to get a trainer to put you up. When you get on the track, it’s about positioning and where you have to be in order to win. There’s a lot that goes into this that you don’t see on the track.”

Rather than scrutinizing a program, Roberts prepares for his job by simply surveying what transpires on a daily basis.

“I try to be at the track to watch the first race even if I’m not in it,” he said. “Then I stay and watch the last race. I try to pay attention to the horses that have pace finishing the mile, the ones that leave and the horses that were locked in the week before. You know, things of that nature. I’m more of a visual person and watching a movie I will remember it, but reading a book I won’t. I can watch a horse that was pinned in the week before and loaded and it doesn’t say that in the program. When I do my picks for the week, I might be on that horse or I might want to remember that horse because he might be the one I want to follow. A program only tells you so much.”

Roberts didn’t establish goals when he began steering horses and after more than 10 years on the job, he still has really only developed one objective.

“I just want to stay healthy long enough to make a career out of this,” he said. “I think I’ve done pretty well so far and I want to take it as far as I can, so staying healthy is the main thing. I can’t really put a goal on wins or money, because I have to balance what I do with my family. What comes along the way comes.

“I know a lot of people that get up in the morning and don’t want to go to work,” Roberts continued. “Even today, (Dec. 6) it’s raining here at Chester and you don’t really want to race in the mud, but there’s nothing else in the world I would rather do. It’s not so much of a job and it does get exhausting, but because I love it so much, it makes it that much easier.”