by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — When Kacey Burns wanted to get her harness racing driver’s license, her dad wasn’t thrilled.

A veteran driver and trainer, Roy Burns knows the perils of getting in the sulky. He also knows the exhilaration it causes and how it gets into the system, so sooner or later Kacey was going to get what she wanted.

“I don’t really know if he wanted me to drive, I think it scares him,” Kacey said with a laugh. “But he let me do it since I liked it.

“My dad has raced horses my whole life. I’ve always helped him around the barn, jogging and training. We have a track at our house and I’d help him at the barn. I wanted to start driving and he finally helped me get my license. I really want to thank my parents for everything they do.”

Shelley Johnson photo

Kacey Burns was a winner in just her second career drive.

Once she got her license, the 17-year-old high school senior wasted little time putting it to good use. In just her second career drive, on Sept. 11, Burns came from second to win by a neck at the Wyandot County Fair in Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

Kacey admitted that winning so early in her career was the furthest thing from her mind.

“I was just thinking about surviving,” she said.

Burns’ first drive came at her hometown fair in Marysville, where she finished fourth.

“I missed the gate because I had the outside post,” she said. “It goes a lot faster than you expect. I missed the gate but I caught the field so it was good.”

In the Wyandot County race, Kacey was given 2-year-old gelding trotter Get Away Chip to drive. The horse was purchased at the Delaware sale two weeks before Burns’ race.

“My dad drove him one time and we had him in a sire stakes, and then my dad let me drive him; he said he was safe,” Burns said. “I jogged him a couple times at home. I liked him a lot.”

Burns started the race from the second tier, and got advice from Roy.

“My dad told me what horse to follow close,” she recalled. “I stayed on the one horse’s back the whole time. We left out of the gate, I just followed him. Going to the half he started to bear out; I went under him, then went to the top.

“My excitement was really building after I went ahead. I was just hoping we could hang on. It was really exciting (coming across the line).”

In attendance were her dad and mom, Missy, and several friends also involved in driving. It was those friends who first got Kacey into the sport.

“I wanted to get my license for a long time but since I turned 16, that’s when I really got into it,” she said. “I have friends my age that do it too, and they got their license and I wanted to drive with them.”

Like several other teens have discovered, the test wasn’t as easy as she thought.

“No, it was a lot harder than I expected,” Burns said. “The written part was the hard part. There were questions you wouldn’t think were on there that were on there.”

But she passed it, got her win and is now back in Fairbanks High School taking other tests in preparation for college. Burns has not raced since the victory, as schoolwork takes precedent. She is also active as a point guard on the basketball team and a 400- and 800-meter runner in track and field.

Asked if she was a point guard because she knew how to run the show, the 5-foot-2 Burns laughed and said, “I’m too short for anything else.”

In track she earned the MVP of an invitational meet last season thanks to her running prowess.

Her harness racing is on hold until next summer, and after that “my parents want me to go to college. Hopefully I can go to something in equine.”

Burns is looking to get involved with therapeutic riding to help children with disabilities. But her desire to drive is still strong.

“I hope to drive at the big tracks one day,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll get to drive in the qualifiers next summer. My dad will support me in any decision I make. But he’s very nervous.”

How about mom?

“I think she might be more nervous.”

Oh well, at least everyone is in agreement.