Smith reflects on season of achievement

Jeremy Smith in 2024 won the first Grand Circuit race of his harness racing career, set career highs for purses and driver’s rating, and captured the driving title at Miami Valley Raceway. Yet for all his accomplishments, he was left to wonder what might have been.

Smith was sidelined for a total of 21 weeks last year because of injuries suffered in two accidents. The first, in mid-June, came as Smith sat atop the driver standings at Eldorado Scioto Downs after already garnering the Miami Valley title, not to mention closing out 2023 as the leading driver at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.

He was on a roll, having won 384 of 1,951 races in the previous eight months, a victory rate of just less than 20 percent. (Ironically, that stretch began after Smith returned from missing eight weeks in 2023 because of sports hernia surgery.) Among the triumphs was his win with Little Rocket Man in the $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie at MGM Northfield Park on June 8, giving Smith his first Grand Circuit score.

Smith was out for five weeks before returning on July 19, and picked up where he left off, winning 34 races at a 21-percent clip prior to being sidelined again in early August. This time, he was out for 16 weeks, until the end of November.

“I get on these rolls and just never get to keep rolling,” said Smith, a native and resident of Washington Court House, Ohio, who will turn 45 on Monday. “I just wish I could have finished out the year. It was up and down like a rollercoaster the four months I was out, but after it was all said and done, I was just glad to be back.”

Smith has opened this year by hitting the board in 13 of 23 drives, winning six, as he looks to defend his crown at Miami Valley. Last year, Smith won 181 races at Miami Valley, just two shy of equaling Brett Miller’s 2019 record for victories at the five-eighths-mile oval.

“That was just awesome,” Smith said. “I always kind of thought I could do this, be the leading driver, I just needed to be healthy and, of course, needed the right accounts. A lot of stuff has to line up for that to happen. It just seemed like everything kept falling in line.”

Smith — who in addition to his Miami Valley title has three at Dayton (2018, 2022, 2023) and had one at Lebanon Raceway (2012) — finished last year with 298 wins, $3.88 million in purses, and a .302 driver’s rating. He ranked 31st in victories among all drivers in North America and 33rd in purses despite his extended absences.

The highlight of the season was Little Rocket Man’s victory in the Battle of Lake Erie, at odds of 20-1, from post six at half-mile Northfield.

“I heard a lot of people say he didn’t have a shot, but I thought he did,” Smith said. “We didn’t draw the best, and that on a half means a lot, but I thought if I could catch one break…and really, I didn’t. I didn’t get the best of trips by any means. I ended up third-over. The horse first-up didn’t really advance the cover flow. But Little Rocket Man, when it came crunch time, out-dug the rest of them.”

Little Rocket Man later won the Jim Ewart Memorial and Hoosier Park Pacing Derby, and was second in the Dayton Pacing Derby, all with Hall of Famer David Miller in the sulky.

“To have a horse like him and maybe win some of those races just would have been awesome,” said Smith, who watched those victories while on the mend. “That would have been that little cherry on top of everything.”

Smith, who has won 3,716 races and $30 million in purses lifetime, will hope to find a few other cherries this season. But he won’t get caught looking at numbers as he seeks to get on another roll in 2025.

“My focus is just on doing good,” Smith said. “I just want to win races and let the numbers go where they go. Otherwise, you start pushing. If I just do what I do, it’s better. I’m just trying to put my horses in the best spot I can and get the best results I can. It doesn’t matter if we’re 90-1 or even money. I don’t think any of the horses I drive can read the tote board. I’m trying with everything.

“I love racing. Whether it’s a top trainer or a guy that has just one horse, it doesn’t matter to me. I want to win for everybody. That’s just how I’ve been my whole life. I’m a sore loser. I can take it and smile when we come off the track, but in my head, I’m a very sore loser. I’m always thinking about how I could have done better. It’s always there. How could I do better. Sometimes, I even think that when we win.”

Smith’s appreciation of those in the sport runs deep.

“Everybody around in racing, they mean the world to me,” he said. “Without them, I’m nobody. Without these trainers, grooms, owners, there is no Jeremy Smith. I always think about that. I appreciate it more than people will ever know.”