Leading driver Milby returns to Rosecroft for Fall Meet
September 10, 2016,by David Joseph, for the Stronach Group
Fort Washington, MD — Frank Milby has driven more than 2,000 winners and has won numerous driving titles at Rosecroft Raceway and Ocean Downs. In fact, the native of Easton, Md. has been one of state’s leading drivers over the past 10 years. But as Milby prepares for another fall meet at Rosecroft, which kicks off Tuesday (Sept. 13) with a 6:40 p.m. post time, he admits he “didn’t have an itch to drive horses” when he was younger.
“A lot of people can’t wait until they can start driving,” recalled Milby recently. “I can’t say I was like that.”
Milby is a third generation horseman. His grandfather, Franklin, trained world-champion female pacer Miss Conna Adios. And while his father Don was a successful trainer and driver, Milby said his father didn’t push him into harness racing.
“My dad kind of pushed me away,” Milby said. “I did grow up going to the barns on the weekends, but the business was not looking so good at the time. He seemed to be of the opinion, ‘You can always go back to horse racing.’ So I went to school, but around my second year of college Delaware got slots and he had a couple owners who wanted to reinvest in horses. So I started working then.”
Milby worked with his father and trained horses until driving his first race in Dec. 1998, a race he remembers well.
“I finished third with a horse named All So Clear,” he recalled. “It was a mix of emotions, a little nervous, a little scared. Way back then, the races seemed to go by in a flash. Everything slows down once you’ve been driving for a while. I see things now during a race I didn’t see five years ago. If there is three horses in front of me, I might look to see what the ears on one are doing and that will tell me what to do.”
Milby, who missed winning the Rosecroft driving title earlier this year by one win, is excited about returning to Rosecroft Tuesday evening.
“I think Rosecroft is one of the best 5/8ths track I ever drove on,” he said. “I think it’s one of the most forgiving tracks on a horse too. It’s a good place.”