Racing reflections with Yannick Gingras

Hightstown, NJ — When a 21-year-old Yannick Gingras moved from his native Quebec to the U.S. in the summer of 2001, he had no idea what his harness racing future held. The young driver, who launched his career in 1998, arrived with 72 career wins and fewer than 400 starts.

Two years later, Gingras was named the sport’s Rising Star, and his trajectory continued upward from there. In 2006, he cracked the Top 10 in purses, and for the past 11 years has never been worse than third.

He has led the sport in earnings four times and was named Driver of the Year in 2014 and 2017. For his career, he has more than $216 million in purses, fourth most in history. Last year, Gingras was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame.

It all began when he started driving in amateur races at the age of 18.

“The thrill of winning, that’s when I was hooked,” Gingras said. “After that, there wasn’t any doubt in my mind that it’s what I wanted to be doing.”

Raymond was at the Prix d’Amerique in France when Gingras got the victory. When he returned home, Gingras showed him a video of the race.

“In the stretch, I was clearing, but I felt like they were coming from everywhere,” Gingras recalled. “I was probably on top by three lengths, but I could hear them, so I drove (Tidewater Comic) out to the wire.

“My dad could be tough on me, in a good way, trying to teach me the right way of doing things. Even though I won the race, my dad was not happy. He told me that I didn’t need to win by that much. That this was an older horse with issues. Right then, I didn’t see it. I was mad. But then I saw it, and it made an impact on me. You’ve got to respect the horse. It’s something I still remember today.

“I learned a lot about horsemanship from my dad. He had a great touch with trotters, and he loved the difficult horses. I do think I have a decent touch with young trotters, and trotters in general, and it comes from him. Being at the farm and training the babies with him and being patient. I think those are all things I got from him.”

When Gingras first arrived in the U.S., he drove at Yonkers Raceway. In 2003, he finished second in the standings there before moving to The Meadowlands, where he went on to win multiple driving titles. Mark Ford, who was co-winner of the Trainer of the Year Award with Jimmy Takter in 2000, helped Gingras get established at both venues.

“Six to eight months after I came to Yonkers, he gave me everything to drive there,” Gingras said. “He was probably the first guy that trusted me with his good horses. He helped get me rolling when I had little experience. He probably saw me mess up more than anybody and he never said anything. I don’t know if he ever complained once.

“When I moved to the Meadowlands, he was a big part of that. The first year, for sure, he was the only top guy that used me. Going forward after that, I still drove a lot for him. Mark was a big part of where I’m at today.”

In 2005, Gingras became the regular driver of a young female pacer named Darlin’s Delight. Over the span of five years, Darlin’s Delight won 34 of 75 races and earned $2.90 million. At the age of 3, she was a Dan Patch and O’Brien award-winner.

“Darlin’s Delight was so good,” Gingras said. “I really wish I could drive her as the driver I am today versus the driver I was then. She made just short of $3 million, and it’s too bad because I definitely cost her some races by my inexperience.

“You can’t buy experience. I learned with her. She was a tremendous horse. I loved her and she was really good to me.”

Top horses driven by Gingras since then are too numerous to list. He is well known for his association with Foiled Again, who retired in 2018 as the richest Standardbred in history, and he sat behind Horse of the Year winners Tall Dark Stranger in 2020, Hannelore Hanover in 2017, and JK She’salady in 2014.

“I was never one to race a lot; I never worried about the number of wins,” Gingras said. “I wanted to drive great horses, I wanted to drive against the best, to become one of the best. Small fish in a big pond is better than a big fish in a little pond, in my opinion, because you learn faster. If you’re willing to go against the best and you’re willing to learn from your mistakes and try not to make the same mistake twice, I think you become better much faster.

“Of course, it comes with power too. You’re only as good as the horses you drive. But it’s a cycle. You start doing well and you get better horses to drive. Then you’re confident and you drive better, and you get even better horses to drive. I’d say around 2010 that started to happen. I’d been on the Grand Circuit for five or six years and I was starting to get power.

“I never drove like I was intimidated, but I was smarter. I knew when to make the move instead of trying to be overly aggressive sometimes. Now you take your time, you save the horses a little bit. That nose or head you’re missing at the end, maybe if you make a rated move to the front instead of a rushed move, those are the things that make a difference.”

“It means a lot, no doubt about it,” said Gingras, who is approaching 8,500 career wins. “Starting out, it’s not something that ever crossed my mind, where I said I had to make it to the Hall of Fame. But you know it’s there; you see other guys get inducted. It’s something that I’m incredibly proud of. It’s people recognizing the impact you’ve had on the sport.

“It’s not over yet. I still have a lot to accomplish, I think. I hope, anyway. I’m going to keep working to reach even higher standards.”

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA