John Campbell turns 50

The man who holds nearly every driving record in harness racing history and is the sport's all-time leading money winning driver at $227 million turns 50 years old today. For John Campbell, turning 50 is just another milestone to check off during a long and illustrious career. John Campbell will spend this birthday (Friday, April 8) driving 10 races at the Meadowlands, his racing home since 1978.



"I really don't feel too much different than I did, say, 10 years ago, except for a few more aches and pains, I guess," Campbell said. "I haven't thought that deep about turning 50. We're having a small gathering on Sunday (to celebrate) with my family, parents and a niece who's coming down for dinner.



"When it comes to any unfinished business, I've never set goals and I'm not going to start now," Campbell added. "You can only take every race as it comes. So, there's nothing that I'm still itching to do or anything that's bothering me, that's for sure. I'm very content and things are going very well in my life."



The 16-time leading driver at the Meadowlands, he tops all reinsmen with Hambletonian wins (five) and Meadowlands Pace wins (seven).



"Anybody that competes knows that there's no substitute for winning," he noted. "We sometimes take it for granted when we're at the Meadowlands. If you have a horse that wins there in any class, you've accomplished something."



He lost time away from racing in both 2003 and 2004 to allow a broken elbow to heal, the result of a spill on March 23, 2003.



"How long will I continue to drive - it's pretty much a year-by-year thing," he said. "I know I don't have 10 years left. I would imagine it's a two to four-year deal, somewhere in that neighborhood. The training side has changed so dramatically, and I wouldn't know where to begin. That's not going to happen for me."

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