Herschberger loving move to New Jersey

Mark Herschberger began working with horses at an early age, but it’s only been in the past several years that the Illinois native — and nephew of trainer Erv Miller and driver Andy Miller — started pursuing his own everyday career in harness racing.

The 28-year-old Herschberger, who spent parts of the previous six seasons assisting with Erv Miller’s stables in Pennsylvania and Indiana, as well as working for trainer Joe Putnam in Indiana, relocated to New Jersey with his fiancée Brittany Jessop late last summer. He is working for trainer Andrew Harris at Gaitway Farm while looking to further his career as a driver. He also helps with horses at a training center run by Paul Jessop and Laurie Molnar.

Herschberger got his first win in 2022 at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Indiana and added 27 victories last year. Driving primarily at Freehold Raceway since his move to N.J., Herschberger has two wins so far this season.

“I love it,” Herschberger said. “I love my job and being around the horses on a daily basis. Growing up as a young kid, I would go to my grandpa’s house, he had a 40-to-50 horse breeding farm, and I would help him break yearlings and jog horses. (Driving) is always something I wanted to do. I guess I just never had the push to go out and try it until about six years ago when Erv kind of took me under his wing.

“Once you’re in it, it’s in your blood. Then you’re hooked. If you do what you love every day, you don’t work a day in your life. That’s the way it’s been for me. Days fly by and weeks roll together when you’re racing. I wouldn’t want to spend my time doing anything else.”

Herschberger’s triumphs in 2023 featured eight on the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit, including two $10,000 Governor’s Cup Series consolations, and five in the Kentucky Proud Series. He began driving at Freehold on Sept. 1 and ranked 10th in victories at the Central Jersey half-mile oval over the final four months of the year. He also was among the four drivers who represented Freehold in the Rosecroft-Freehold Driving Challenge in December.

“The move has worked out well for me since I’ve been out here,” Herschberger said. “I enjoy getting out and going behind the gate. That’s where I want to point my career. Being in the driver challenge, I think that helped me a little bit in getting my name out there a little more. That was a lot of fun.

“For this year, I’d like to double my starts from last year. If I could get 600 to 700 starts this year, that’s kind of my goal. Wherever I can get listed, I’ll make the drive to go. Obviously, we want to take home a few more wins, but the main thing is to keep learning from every drive.”

Herschberger knows he is a bit of a latecomer to the driving ranks, where many of his peers launched their careers in their teens or early 20s, but he is willing to take his time working his way up.

“(My age) was something Joe Putnam always told me would be going against me as far as starting out,” Herschberger said. “But he always said I had some talent and if I wanted to pursue it, he would back me. I’ve been fortunate to have people put me forward. It’s a tough ladder to climb. You need to climb it right, do it right on the way up, so you can build that trust with trainers and owners.

“I’ve still got a long way to go as far as being out there as a driver. You’ve got to react and make decisions and stand by them, and also be able to turn the page from there to get to the next drive. I just want to keep moving forward.”

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA