Top 10 Harness Drivers of All Time

The Top Ten
1 John Campbell

The list is heavily east coast biased. I'm from the Midwest and you could easily put the "Wrenn's" on here, Peter and/or Ronnie Jr. Where's Eddie Morgan, Terry Tomlin, Danny Johnson, Jeff James, Chris Boring?

John Campbell is pretty good too! 1st time I saw Campbell, he was on Mack Lobell!

Never overextends a horse. Just drive him hard enough to win. You never know how fast a horse can go with Herve and so he'd keep climbing the ladder with them and all the time beating you at a price if you bet winning time.

I loved watching him drive...the best on any size track. Win or lose John put the horse in a position to win. As a bettor, that's all you can ever ask of the driver.

2 Walter Case Jr.

I am from Maine. Walter was the best driver I have ever seen. I have seen many including Herve and Campbell. I have owned a few horses as well. He is 61 now. He needs to race on any track again. USTA free the guy.

The First Comment on Walter Case Was Mine. It took the 3 of us to load this Giant Mare. His Girlfriend went inside with a Lead Shank and Pulled, Walter And I Locked Arms and Got Her on in Seconds. I thanked him & his Girlfriend. I asked him his name. Walter Case. I said to Walt, I can't believe You Helped me Load This Rank Gorse. He Said, I would Have Helped Anyone with a Big Smile. I raced the NYS Harness Tracks and Never Met Him. The Tracks Banning Walt Are Doing A Great Injustice. Thousands Of Americans would go to Any Race Tracks Just to Watch Him In Action. The "USTA" Should Help Him !

Walter could win with any horse--it sometimes seemed like he was doing it with pure will. I have never seen a better driver and consider myself so lucky to have seen him dominate Yonkers.

3 Vernon Crank

I was at the Bell that afternoon card when he set the track record with Town Drunk. The following week he went to the Meadowlands and went off 50-1 morning line and raced like it. He was great that afternoon but I wouldn't rank him in the top three on that Liberty Bell Brandywine circuit

Had a bad accident at liberty bell race track he had to have a steel plate in his skull. Had bad heads aches all the time after that he made a great come back and was leading drver at Brandywine raceway in 1983. Only to be hit and killed by a drunk driver in 1984. He was a great person as well as he's driving skills

Saw him drive at several tracks. Saw every time he handled Town Drunk at Meadowlands.

4 Herve Fillion

His nickname in my group of friends was "Big Whip". That long whip and driving savvy was an identity that made his triumphs and his name synonomous with victory.

Never really saw him drive on a regular basis but his stats are almost untouchable!

Hands of gold willed many lame horses home he was part horse.

5 Tim Tetrick

Big race, big money, no one I'd rather see driving my horse. Simply the best!

Will be all time best ever! No doubt. You can take that to the bank, to the bank

6 Yannick Gingras

This Driver will be in Top five of all time. He does some amazing thing in the track. He absolutely blows me away every day with his extremely intelligent driving and he super aggressive. He doesn't have enough time on the track to be on this list but really I can't take him off. Since the first time I saw him at the Meadowlands race track he stood out. He will be a top driver for years to come. He is a just a SUPER TALENT!

He is going to win another driver title this year even though he was in France and Australia. He is absolutely the thing that has happened to harness racing in a long time. he gets that etra half second or second out of most the horses he drives.

He has raced all over the world and has been an ambassador for the sport while wining at an incredible rate.

7 Ted Wing

Ted Wing was a superstar in early years of Big M racing. He could get speed out of any horse & was lethal on the engine.

One of my favorites and always seemed to bail me out.

8 Michel Lachance

He is a Hall of Famer with some amazing stats. He held the record for winning 12 races in one day at Yonkers, he was dominate! Extremely aggressive and great with all gaits. He was money in the big races!

He was very competitive and extremely aggressive. He had was a dominate force at one time.

9 Stanley Franklin Dancer

Stanley Dancer was not only a great driver but a teriffic human being as well. He won three triple crowns only driver to do that. I asked him who his greatest horse was and he said Albatross, who did not win TRIPLE CROWN!

Not only the best driver, but the best driver/trainer combo, of all time

10 Bill O'Donnell

Saw him come to maywood one night from the meadowlands and won all 5 race he drove with some good prices. Could drive any horse and from any post

Bill was great, but the booze got to him and severely cut short his time. A great pity!

At his peak, the best I ever saw. There's a reason they called him the "Magic Man".

The Contenders
11 Dave Magee

Started watching harness racing in 1975. I believe that was when I first saw Dave Magee. In Chicago along with Ron Marsh and Walter Paisley. Dave was special.

Honest as the day is long. First saw him as a kid working for his uncle at Quad City Downs. He can feel a horses soul right thru the lines.

Should be in the top 2. He and John Campbell. Best ever at rating a horse. Always helped trainers with rigging a horse. Great hands.

12 David Miller

I followed David's career from the very start at my home track(Lebanon Raceway). He was a natural and the amazing thing about David is that he has only gotten better as the years have passed. No matter where he has driven he has been the Driver to beat when he has a horse of comparable ability. From Lebanon Raceway to Northfield Park to Scioto Downs to The Meadows Racetrack to now driving against the top drivers at Harness Racings Mecca The Meadowlands. I have to admire a guy like David that made his mark in Harness Racing by his amazing ability to get his horses to perform at a very high level. The mark of greatness is when you can improve any horse that you have an opportunity to drive and that is what I believe describes David's entire career in the bike.

I believe David Miller should be rated top 5 of all time harness racing drivers.

$220 million dollars in career earnings really tells the story of how talented
David Miller is.

13 Andy Miller

He wasn't already on the list and I had to add him? Seriously? He should already have been in the top 12 before this.

14 William Gale

William had many injuries in his carrier but what a master. He did some amazing things on the track. He was one of the most deceptive drivers on the track, you could never tell if his horse was done or not. He had a track timer in his head. brilliant!

Always dangerous he knew how to rate his horses.

Loved watching him at Hazel Park in Michigan!

15 Dave Palone

Stayed true to his home track and put up incredible numbers. Would have loved to have seen him go up against the Yonkers / Roosevelt or early.Meadowlands crowd back in the day. He would have done great.

Drivers just don't win at the clip that he has for such a long period of time. Phenomenal talent.

No driver could possibly be better than Dave Palone taking everything into consideration.

16 Anthony Morgan

Tony is number 3 in the world in all time wins and number 2 in the country for lifetime wins! Why he is only number 17 on this list is beyond ridiculous! He has 16000 wins lifetime come on! He is one of the best of the best ever! I watched him drive my whole life and have seen him win 9 races in one day! Tony is Ledgendary!

Tony, there are no words. You are everything our Morgan clan has put out, all in one person. Modest, talented, quiet, confident, a good person. Oh, and that red head with you...(never behind Penny), she completes your legacy. I am beyond proud to say that I not only know you, I'm related to you.

I raced at Louisville downs years ago with Tony Morgan, his father Eddie Morgan was one of the best, and he taught Tony how to drive. Tony was a quiet young man, loaded with talent. His barn was very hard to beat.Tony went on to be a super driver, one of the best

17 Ron Pierce

He just keeps going and going. Any driver that can run at such a high standard for as many years as he has deserves be on this list. He has probably the biggest upset I have ever seen. He can never be overlooked in any race.

18 Ron Waples

The best especially with big money purses.Won some of the biggest races first time up on horses.If he was a catch driver instead of mostly driving his own stock would have gave them all a run for top driver,Did lead in wins 1 year 1979 or 1980 I believe.

I saw him Drive a lot at Woodbine and at Meadowlands. He did things that no else would attempt he was way ahead of his time when it came to racing. Didn't matter what the odds he was always dangerous. He was a magician!

A great driver/trainer who comes from a family of horsemen.Son Randy now in dads footsteps or "hoof prints" A real gentleman.

19 William "Buddy" Gilmour

Class horse or claimer, Buddy was a great strategist, an excellent "position" driver, who won with his brains as well as his hands.

Knew Buddy and his brothers when I was growing up. My grandfather was Elmer Rice a blacksmith for the tracks.

Great horseman and driver. One kind man.. Treated all people the same

20 Walter Paisley

Walter treated his horses like he treated the people who worked for him; with respect and fairness.

Possibly the best driver at Chicago tracks. Got as much out of a horse as any driver ever did.

21 Brian Sears

Extremely intelligent driver who also seems to have the horse in the best position and he doesn't overextend a horse. There are a couple of "popular drivers" currently who seem to drive every horse as though they're sitting behind the next Niatross. A class act who wins a lot of races without driving a horde of super horses for the elite owners.

Brian is a Talent. He is extremely intelligent driver and will be one of the most successful driver in a 7 year period.
He had the ability to find a spot for every horse he drove. Outstanding Driver!

Loved betting his grandfather "Gene" and father "Jay" so I knew he would be sensational. He did not dissappoint. Great driver.

22 Jack Moiseyev

Best harness driver I've ever seen. Some drivers get better horse. The true measure is instinct and intelligence on the track, and here he beats them all.

He had was a force no matter where he drove. He won many Big Races and could do it from all positions. Great Driver!

Jackie was born to race horses. No one better in the sport.

23 Eddie Davis

Most underrated of all time. Won dash championships when racing one track at a time. Injuries slowed his wins down.

Grew up watching Eddie at liberty bell, I'm 50 now and still remember his horses I liked,committeeman, ripping Russ, and Duke of Hillsboro not a great one but was one of my favorites.

Great horsemen as well and won with a lot of bad gaited horses great hands.

24 Lew Williams

For a short period of time Lew was super. Lew had no help being an African American driver in a sport dominated by whites. He could get almost any horse to leave the gate and he had uncanny timing.
Tired horses would give their all under Lewys left handed push. Perfected the 1/4 pole move.

His driving style was way ahead of his time!

25 Billy Haughton

Take Billy every time. He was the best in my opinion when it was all on the line.

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