by Chris Lomon

Brian Larson didn’t need more than a couple of seconds to provide an answer to the question about what harness racing means to him.

“That would be easy,” said Larson, a long-time standardbred horseman. “It all comes down to family for me. There is Cory and then there is Casey, who is the oldest of our sons. Out of all the years of racing, both of my boys have been beside me the whole time.

“As the boys grew up, they began jogging horses by themselves when they were 10. By the time they were 12, they were grooming and when they were old enough to get their licenses, they were driving. Over the years, I would always give the boys our best horses to drive. I would drive the ones they didn’t like or the ones that were more trouble to handle. My wife Kim is a licensed charter and does photo finish duties here in Iowa. So, it has been a family affair for a long time.”

For nearly 30 years, Brian has been a staple on the Midwest U.S. harness racing landscape, a career that has taken him to dozens of racetracks, producing a plethora of great memories.

It all began through a conversation with a familiar face in Canton, SD.

“I got started in the industry because of my neighbor, Bob Lems,” Brian said. “That year, he and his brother were training around 10 horses and his brother Tim had broken his leg. I started helping Bob. I shoe horses for a living and I started working with Bob and I guess that year was the one I fell in love with the sport. The next year, I had my own horses and we’ve had horses ever since.”

There have been a few standout horses along the way in Brian’s training and driving careers.

One of them, Tap Dancin, wasn’t the type of competitor typically found in his barn.

“He ended up being trotter of the year in 2007 out here in Iowa,” said Larson, of the bay son of Six Alarm (IA). “He was the first and only trotter I ever trained. So, that one certainly stands out for a couple of reasons. He was a very nice horse, and he was very consistent.”

Boom Boom Shaboom was all of that too.

A daughter of General Aidid (MN), the pacing mare had an outstanding career, competing at various racetracks and chalking up 36 wins from 91 starts — a near 40 per cent strike rate — along with $132,520 in lifetime earnings. The bay racked up 54 top-three finishes and earned her speed badge of 1:53.3 at Running Aces in Minnesota.

The horse that was the runner-up 2-year-old champion in Iowa, a 3-year-old champion in Iowa, and aged mare champion in Minnesota, won her last start on Sept. 15, 2018.

“Cory and I, we owned her together,” Brian said. “She paid for all four years of his college when he raced her. We sent her out east and she did really well out there. She came back and she won aged mare honors in Minnesota.”

The past five years have seen a shift in the Larson operation.

While Brian officially trained his last horse in 2018, the veteran horseman does sit in the sulky every now and again. The majority of drives for their barn, however, are now given to the capable hands of Cory.

“Cory has basically taken over the horse business for us,” Brian said. “Him and I, we have 18 horses right now. We also have a band of broodmares, and we are raising our own babies, and racing them. I raise them up, break them as yearlings, and he takes over after that.”

Brian isn’t the only Larson who has made an impact on the sport.

“It’s been a godsend to have my family along with me for a lot of those years,” he said. “I remember when Casey was 18, he said, ‘I’m going to The Meadowlands and win the Meadowlands Pace one day.’ I didn’t know what to think, but when turned 18, he graduated, packed up his truck and trailer and took two of our horses to New York. He was out there for 10 years and trained for different people during that time.”

One of those trainers happened to be Eddie Hart, the man who campaigned Roll With Joe to a short, but brilliant career.

The son of Cams Card Shark earned just shy of $1.8 million over 23 races, with his biggest victory coming on July 16, 2011, at The Meadowlands.

“When Casey worked with Eddie, they won the Meadowlands Pace with Roll With Joe,” Brian said. “My son took care of that horse, drove him around to wherever he was racing, warmed him up… he did everything with that horse for the three years he raced. That day when he won the Meadowlands Pace, I had a tear in my eye. It made me a very proud dad. And now, Casey is an associate judge at Running Aces. So, the boys and Kim, they are all doing great and loving what they do.”

The same can be said for Brian himself.

And he still has the magic touch whenever he occasionally sits in the sulky.

He recently reached a career milestone when he piloted Boom Booms Bullseye to victory at Humboldt (IA) on June 10.

And yes, the name of the pacer does have a familiar ring to it.

“I won my 100th race with the horse that is the first colt we have out of Boom Boom Shaboom,” said Brian, of the horse he bred with Kim, and is trained and owned by Cory.

Quite fitting, certainly, for a man whose love of racing is all about family.

“What else can you do for a sport or a hobby where you can all get together on a weekend or other times, and you get to spend that with your family?” Brian said. “And that’s what we are lucky enough to do. We all enjoy the horses, the racing, and the atmosphere at the racetrack. Just that opportunity to be together is something that means a lot to me.”

And to think it all started with a neighborly chat almost 30 years ago.

“I’m definitely grateful that I had that conversation with Bob,” Brian said. “It ended up being something that changed my life and my family’s life.”