by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Seeing the name “Teague” in a harness racing program is not unusual. Frequently, the referenced Teague is either George Teague Jr. or Brenda Teague, the brother-sister training team that has won many of the sport’s top prizes. Increasingly, though, the name Montrell Teague is appearing as well.

Montrell Teague is George Teague’s 19-year-old son. Last year, Montrell embarked on a career as a driver and ended the season with 36 wins and $451,570 in earnings. He already has surpassed those figures in 2010, registering 37 victories and $496,736 (in 30 fewer starts).

On April 15, he won a $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund championship with No Bad Luck at Dover Downs. The 3-year-old pacing filly was trained by George Teague and gave Montrell his most lucrative purse win to date. Three weeks later, he drove in the $220,000 Berry’s Creek, sitting behind Morgan Shark for trainer Joe Seekman. He finished eighth, but got valuable experience.

Ken Weingartner photo

Montrell Teague has won 37 races so far in 2010.

“Things have been going really good,” Montrell Teague said. “I’ve been doing a lot of driving. It’s just been really fun. Hopefully it’s in my future. I’ve been progressing good. It’s all been working out.”

Having been around horses his entire life, there was little question about Teague’s career path.

“I used to jog horses with my dad as an infant and I jogged my first horse by myself when I was 5,” said Teague, who takes classes part time at Delaware Tech. “I’ve always loved this sport and wanted to do this. Ever since I was coming home from school and going right to the track and watching all these guys — and watching dad have a lot of success — I always wanted that. I couldn’t wait to drive.

“Just the thrill of going fast and being out there, it’s exhilarating.”

Of course, having a successful trainer for a father does not hurt. Montrell has driven Teague Stable stalwarts like Western Ace, Mr Apples, and Chasin Racin during his fledgling career. Of his 226 starts this year, 171 have come behind horses from his dad’s stable.

The Teague Stable surpassed $4 million for the fourth consecutive season in 2009, setting a career high at $5.71 million.

“It works out really good for me,” Teague said. “He gives me a lot of nice horses to drive; I’ve gotten a lot of wins from him. Basically I’m just getting his drives for now. Eventually (other drives) will come, hopefully.”

One trainer to give Teague a drive was Seekman, who put the teenager behind Morgan Shark for the Berry’s Creek eliminations. Teague got the horse into the final with a fifth-place finish.

“He got the horse there, so fair is fair; you’ve got to give him the drive in the finals,” Seekman said.

“That was nerve-racking, for one,” Teague said with a grin about the final. “Going for $220,000, you’ve got to really drive smart out there. I’m just glad he gave me the opportunity.”

Seekman understands what it is like for a young driver trying to make a name for himself. His own son, 20-year-old Travis, has started a career as a driver in the Midwest.

“They’re both pretty level-headed kids and I think over time they’re going to get more and more drives,” Seekman said. “They’ve got to stick it out. There might be some hard times right now; they might get upset with people dropping them off drives or not using them. But in due time, I think that’s going to come around and change. They’ve just got to get out there and get their experience.”

Which is all Teague is trying to accomplish at the moment.

“You can’t get down on yourself when you have a bad drive or you’re not going to last long here,” Teague said. “(Other drivers) have a lot of advice for me. I want to learn and all the advice they give me, I take it. They tell me to keep my head on straight and don’t do any dumb stuff and you’ll be in it a lot longer than most people.

“I just want to be known out there as a good driver and hopefully get more drives, like the big guys. I want to have a name for myself.”