Top 10 Harness Drivers of All Time
Never overextends a horse. Just drives 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.
His money winnings speak volumes. He is consistent and patient! His strength is his dedication and professionalism, second to none!
The first comment on Walter Case was mine. It took three of us to load this giant mare. His girlfriend went inside with a lead shank and pulled, while Walter and I locked arms and got her on in seconds. I thanked him and his girlfriend. I asked him his name, and he said, "Walter Case."
I said to Walt, "I can't believe you helped me load this rank horse." 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!
I was at the Bell that afternoon when he set the track record with Town Drunk. The following week he went to the Meadowlands, went off at 50-1 on the 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 Racetrack. He had to have a steel plate in his skull and had bad headaches all the time after that. He made a great comeback and was the leading driver 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 a great driver.
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 synonymous with victory.
Never really saw him drive on a regular basis, but his stats are almost untouchable!
Hands of gold. He willed many lame horses home. He was part horse.
Big race, big money, no one I'd rather see driving my horse. Simply the best!
Will be the all-time best ever! No doubt. You can take that to the bank.
This driver will be in the top five of all time. He does some amazing things on the track. He absolutely blows me away every day with his extremely intelligent driving, and he is 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 Racetrack, he stood out. He will be a top driver for years to come. He is 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 best thing that has happened to harness racing in a long time. He gets that extra half-second or second out of most of the horses he drives.
Ted Wing was a superstar in the early years of Big M racing. He could get speed out of any horse and was lethal on the engine.
One of my favorites and always seemed to bail me out.
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 dominant! Extremely aggressive and great with all gaits. He was money in the big races!
He was very competitive and extremely aggressive. He was a dominant force at one time.
Stanley Dancer was not only a great driver but a terrific human being as well. He won three Triple Crowns, the only driver to do that. I asked him who his greatest horse was, and he said Albatross, who did not win the Triple Crown!
Not only the best driver but the best driver/trainer combo of all time.
Saw him come to Maywood one night from the Meadowlands and win all 5 races he drove, with some good prices. He 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."
I 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. I first saw him as a kid working for his uncle at Quad City Downs. He can feel a horse's soul right through the lines.
Should be in the top 2. He and John Campbell are the best ever at rating a horse. He always helped trainers with rigging a horse. Great hands.
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 racing's mecca, The Meadowlands. I have to admire a guy like David who 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.
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.
William had many injuries in his career, 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!
He just keeps going and going. Any driver that can run at such a high standard for as many years as he has deserves to be on this list. He has probably the biggest upset I have ever seen. He can never be overlooked in any race.
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.
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 16,000 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 nine races in one day! Tony is legendary!
Tony, there are no words. You are everything our Morgan clan has put out, all in one person. Modest, talented, quiet, confident, and a good person. Oh, and that redhead with you (never behind Penny), she completes your legacy.
I am beyond proud to say that I not only know you, but I'm also related to you.
I saw him drive a lot at Woodbine and at Meadowlands. He did things that no one else would attempt. He was way ahead of his time when it came to racing. Didn't matter what the odds were. He was always dangerous. He was a magician!
A great driver/trainer who comes from a family of horsemen. His son Randy is now following in his dad's footsteps, or "hoof prints." A real gentleman.
The best, especially with big money purses. Won some of the biggest races the first time up on horses. If he was a catch driver instead of mostly driving his own stock, he would have given them all a run for top driver.
He did lead in wins one year, 1979 or 1980, I believe.
Class horse or claimer, Buddy was a great strategist and an excellent "position" driver, who won with his brains as well as his hands.
I 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.
Walter treated his horses like he treated the people who worked for him: with respect and fairness.
Possibly the best driver at Chicago tracks. He got as much out of a horse as any driver ever did.
Extremely intelligent driver who also seems to have the horse in the best position and 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 an extremely intelligent driver and will be one of the most successful drivers in a seven-year period. He has the ability to find a spot for every horse he drove. Outstanding driver!
Best harness driver I've ever seen. Some drivers get better horses. The true measure is instinct and intelligence on the track, and here he beats them all.
He 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.
Most underrated of all time. He 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 he was one of my favorites.
Great horseman as well and won with a lot of bad-gaited horses. Great hands.
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 Lew's left-handed push. He perfected the quarter pole move.
His driving style was way ahead of his time!
Take Billy every time. He was the best, in my opinion, when it was all on the line.