A Drive To Win on the Grand Circuit

Harness Racing’s Hall of Fame traveling exhibit “A Drive To Win” will be on display in the Jugette Barn throughout the Delaware, OH Grand Circuit Week (September 20-24). The exhibit will then travel to the Round Barn The Red Mile in Lexington.

The display, which has been made possible by the sponsorship of Hanover Shoe Farms, features 27 trainers and drivers which through circumstance, choice, design or fate,  did not rise to stardom.  

Among the 27 featured horsemen are six from the Buckeye State of Ohio:  Hugh Bell (Delaware), Joe Lighthill (Deshler), Ervin Samples (Willshire), Forrest Short (Circleville), Colby Turner (Wilmington) and Lew Williams (Cadiz).  

Lew Williams became the first African-American to be inducted into the Peter Haughton Hall of Immortals in 2008 at Goshen, NY.  He was just sixteen when he scored his first two career victories with the gelding Dugo Silver Girl on the Ohio county fair circuit.  In 1989, when he died from injuries suffered in a tractor accident while helping a neighbor, Lew had accumulated 2,023 winning drives, 19 1:55 miles and earned $8,834 million in purses.  He was only 42 years old.

Williams won driving titles at The Meadowlands and Northfield Park  where he was a Wall of Fame inductee in 1990.  He also drove two horses  in the Little Brown Jug, Whata Baron (1975) and Barr’s Robert D (1977).

Innovative and creative, Lew modernized the sport by introducing a new way to race.  Lew’s strategy focussed on making moves early, which forced other drivers to make bad decisions.  

Delaware native Hugh Bell  was the son of a horse trainer and he won his first race at age fourteen behind Gypsy Girl in 1916 at the Delaware County Fair in Powell.  At 18, he drove at the Ohio State Fair against such notable horsemen as Doc Parshall.  In the 1950’s Bell was a much sought after catch driver, winning driving titles at Yonkers and Roosevelt Raceway.  Bell had 1,684 lifetime wins and career winnings of more than $3.5 million.

Joe Lighthill was called “the best catch-driver in the sport” by Delvin Miller and “the best conditioner of young trotters in harness racing", by Frank Ervin.  His career began in 1943 when he became the youngest professional driver in Ohio at age  15.  He won his first race the following year at Ottawa, OH.  After  serving in the Army from 1946-48, Lighthill returned home and opened his own stable.  He won with such great horses as Meadow Skipper, Countess Adios, Kerry Way, Tender Loving Care and Peter Lobell.  He finished his career with 2,272 wins and $6.9 million lifetime earnings.

Ervin Samples had been a farmer and truck driver early in his life until, at the age of 41, he turned to harness racing and became an expert catch driver, earning the nickname “Speedy Samples.”  He also developed into an active harness horse owner and breeder.  He was named top driver at Lebanon Raceway, Washington Park and Scioto Downs.  He became a member of the 1,000 Win Club in 1970.

Forrest Short’s career in horses actually began during World War 1 when he served as his captain’s mounted orderly.  He later became a member of the Pickaway County Fair Board andwas a member of the fair’s speed committee for many years.  He won the first race ever held at Scioto Downs’ opening night in 1959 and was one of the track’s leading percentage drivers for many years.  In 1958 and 1959 he trained the well-known double-gaited world champion Steamin’ Demon.  He also competed regularly at The Meadows, Buffalo Raceway and The Red Mile.

Wilmington native Colby Turner, who was born in 1880, began working with horses at an early age.  Tragedy struck when he was only nine years old when he lost both arms (to the elbow) in a terrible accident involving a horse-drawn mower.  In order to drive, Turner would use his teeth to wrap the reins around what remained of his arm and then hooked his whip between those lines.  In the mid-1940’s, Turner was hired as  a trainer-driver for Hall of Fame Immortal McKinley Kirk.  Together they developed outstanding horses including world champion  Amortizor

Below is the complete list of Drive To Win drivers and trainers, including the birth and death dates and their place of birth.  

Angus Allen--Halifax, Nova Scotia (1916-2004)
Richard Baker--Hanover, PA (1904-1989)
Hugh Allison Bell--Delaware, OH ((1902-1975)
Edwin Bither--Maine (1851-1923)
Harry Burright--Oregon, IL (1916-1997)
Vernon Crank--Elizabeth City, NC (1931-1984)
Harold R. Dancer--Imlaystown, NJ (1912-1981)
Norman Dauplaise--Drummondville, Quebec (1940-2003)
Alfred (Bucky) Day--Danville, NH (1929-1985)
Bea Farber Erdman--Emmett, MI (1940-)  
George Forshey--Ford Edward, NY (1924-1989)
Hilda Heydt--Germany (1926-)
Maxie Ervin Lee--Hoffman, NC (1930-2001)
Joe Lighthill--Deshler, OH 1928-2006)
Howard Parker--Windsor, VT (1903-1983)
George Phalen--Plaistow, NH (1922-1991)
James A. “Jimmy” Rankin--St. Catherines, Ontario (1949-1983)
Robert D. “Robbie” Rankin--St. Catherines, Ontario (1958-1990)
Ervin Samples--Willshire, OH (1909-1975)
Forrest Short--Circleville, OH (1894-1975)
Phyllis Smith Page--Gardiner, ME
Harold Snodgrass--Muncie, IN (1911-1998)
Colby Turner--Wilmington, OH (1880-1975)
Siegfried Sacher “Satch”  Warner--Austria (1898-1983)
John (Tic) Wilcutts--Magnolia, DE (1919-1984)
Lew Williams--Cadiz, OH (1947-1989)
Mildred Williams--Ameliasburg, Ontario (1916-2008)

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