Jack Pelling off to big start in 2023

Trenton, NJ — Jack Pelling is in no great rush to be a top harness racing driver but is certainly happy with where his deliberate pace has brought him at this point.

Pelling, in just his fourth year of driving, has opened 2023 with wins in nearly 26 percent of his 62 starts at Freehold Raceway. Only Jim Marohn Jr. is higher, at 30 percent, and no other driver with 19 or more starts is better than 16.1 percent.

His strong start follows a career year in which he won 111 races and earned more than $1.23 million in purses.

The son of trainer Brett Pelling, Jack did not follow the lead of a lot of harness racing offspring and dive right into the sport. He got his first drives in 2020 and has improved vastly each of his first three seasons.

So, is he where he expected to be at this point?

“I feel really good right now,” Pelling said. “I feel like people are starting to notice me, which is good. I think some people have a perception of me that’s different from what I actually think. I really do see myself going along, still learning, doing things at my own pace.

“I don’t feel the need to rush and push myself to drive as much as possible — drive here, drive there, do everything I possibly can. I don’t put the pressure on myself that way, but I’m really happy it just comes naturally in racing. I just feel pretty good. I feel I’m about where I need to be. But I feel at the end of the year I’ll have a way better answer to that question.”

Jack’s delay in starting his career was due to Brett moving from New Jersey to Australia and retiring from harness racing for 11 years. Pelling admits that when he was 20 years old, he could not tell the difference between a trotter and pacer because his exposure to the sport was so limited during his dad’s retirement.

After Jack graduated high school, Brett hooked him up with trainer Ross Croghan at age 21, and he returned to New Jersey as a groom. When Brett unretired in 2017, he came back to America and Jack has helped him ever since.

The younger Pelling showed a sharp eye for talent early on, when he drove the Brett-trained Test Of Faith in her first two qualifiers as a 2-year-old.

And what was it like, driving the future 2021 Horse of the Year and 2022 Dan Patch winner for best older female pacer?

“Out of control,” Jack said.

He was quick to add with pride he knew what the horse was capable of before anyone else.

“I swear, if my dad was telling you the truth, he would say I saw it first in her,” Pelling said. “She was just supposed to be this nice little (New York) Sire Stakes horse. When I qualified her, I didn’t even have my P license, I only had my Q license. My experience when I first qualified Test Of Faith was very, very low. But I still remember that she just did everything so perfectly and so easily. I just remember going to my dad and being like ‘Holy (bleep) this horse can’t lose.’ And then she didn’t.”

Pelling’s prediction came in 2020, the same year he collected six wins in 90 starts to get his career underway. He jumped in completely in 2021, winning 64 races and more than $514,000 in 559 starts. Last season was a breakout year as Jack reached the 100-win and million-dollar milestones for the first time.

“I remember in February of last year, somebody asked me how many total wins I had, and I remember telling them I had 100,” he said. “I wasn’t really keeping track through the year, but at the end I realized I’d gotten 100 just in one year. It felt like just the day before I was telling someone ‘Oh yeah I have 100 (career) wins, that’s really good.’ And then I get 100 in one year. That made me really happy and really proud.”

Included in that win total were victories in two preliminary legs of the New York Sire Stakes with Earthwindfire, and a first place in the New Jersey Sire Stakes Standardbred Development Fund final with the same 2-year-old filly.

“She’s unreal, she’s a joy to drive,” Pelling said of the horse, who is trained by Brett. “I just trained her (Wednesday); she wants to kick you out of the jog cart, she wants to put her head down and give you a couple smacks every once in a while. But she’s a really classy animal, she’s got tons of ability. To be able to be around a horse like that, that’s massive for me. A big thanks to my dad and the owners for that.”

Another highlight was when he drove Bee Two Bee, from the stable of perennial leading trainer Ron Burke, around Freehold in a track-record-equaling time for pacing stallions. The 1:51.1 score matched the mark established by Riyadh in 1996.

“I’ll always remember, it was the very first time I drove for Ron Burke,” Pelling said. “That was really, really cool and really special. I know Ron knows all about that as well. I talked to Ron, he’s a really good guy. I guess it made me feel really happy to know I got noticed, even in that one drive, by big trainers.”

In looking back on his overall season, Pelling had 47 wins at Harrah’s Philadelphia, 44 at Freehold, and nine at The Meadowlands. Driving steadily at Philly is Jack’s biggest goal this season, along with a long-range goal of sitting behind more of Brett’s horses.

“(Philly) is definitely the main focus in terms of driving,” he said. “They have good race days there, 14 races a day. It has totally changed my outlook on where I was even going with it. It was just eye opening how real it could be for me so quickly out there. Just making some real money. That’s not something I really experienced before I was there.

“I’m hoping over time, whether it’s this year, next year or the year after, to try and drive more and more horses with my dad, and have more Earthwindfire situations. So that’s definitely a big focus as well. And if I can get to the point that I was at (Philly) last year, and maybe go a bit beyond that I’d just be stoked.”

Maintaining his steady schedule at Freehold while sprinkling in some Meadowlands races is also on the agenda. So far this year all his races, with the exception of two at The Meadowlands, have been at Freehold. He took two weeks off in January for holiday in Australia, which gave him a renewed vigor for driving.

“I’m literally a changed person,” Pelling said. “I don’t mind giving myself a little break.”

Now that he’s back, Jack will begin driving in earnest. He is slowly building a client base among trainers at Freehold and Philly, and he hopes to gain the confidence of more trainers. Even after his big 2022 campaign, the 28-year-old feels he is still paying his dues.

“I don’t consider myself as a big, made driver, I still see myself as an up-and-coming person and a person who has a lot to learn and a lot to do still,” Pelling said. “I definitely didn’t go into last year thinking anything of it really, but I was just really happy with everything that was going on. And a couple other people really seemed to like what I was doing and gave me shots and it just went from there.”

As he continues to ascend, Pelling’s humble attitude is refreshing. He not only appreciates getting drives from trainers, he is grateful for getting advice from veteran drivers.

“I get them all the time,” he said. “We’re all together. Todd McCarthy gives me big tips, Dexter Dunn gives me big tips. George Napolitano, he’s a great guy. I could name tons of big drivers. They all talk to me, and I try to talk to all of them.

“They’re the big drivers for a reason. Most of them have 15-, 20-, 30-plus-years’ experience on me. So, for me to not take into consideration every single thing they’re saying would just be ridiculous.”

So, he will listen, learn, and continue his steady, deliberate pace to success.

by Rich Fisher, for the USTA