The Hall of Fame driver’s first Meadowlands Pace victory with Hilarion came just after he experienced a crushingly-poor performance by his own colt, Merger.

by Dave Briggs

John Campbell’s most devastating career defeat quickly turned into one of his most memorable victories.

In 1982, Campbell was still training and driving horses. Going into that year’s Meadowlands Pace, Campbell’s student, Merger, was primed for success.

“We had pointed [Merger] for the Meadowlands Pace and he was as good as he could possibly be going into the race,” Campbell said.

“He just raced terribly in the eliminations. To tell you the truth, it was about as bad as I felt after any race, any time, in my career.

“I was confident that he would race well and that he had enough ability to compete in there. I thought he was as good as anybody and he had no excuse, he just raced poorly. I was absolutely devastated.”

But devastation quickly turned to elation when Campbell received a call from trainer Jerry Silverman. That call led to Campbell driving Hilarion and winning his first Meadowlands Pace (replay here).

But it was no easy trip. Hilarion had the 10-hole.

“A lot of it was just good fortune,” Campbell said. “I had no intentions of leaving the gate with him when I looked at the program. I just thought there would be so much early speed. I was really just trying to race for a check. I looked over and before we got to the wire, nobody was on the gate and so I just spoke to him and he crossed right over and got covered right up. Then, he was lucky to get out. No Nukes came three-wide down the backstretch and got up to be first over and the horse following him couldn’t keep up, which allowed me to get out on his back. So, it was really a very, very fortunate trip.

“When I crossed the wire I was pretty sure I won, but it was close. When they put the number up, I kind of forgot about Merger.”

Campbell laughed when he said this. After all, later that year Merger became the first of his three Little Brown Jug winners.

But let’s go back to the Meadowlands Pace, which goes Saturday (July 13) at The Big M. Campbell said the track was “electric, just electric” on Pace Night in the 1980s and ’90s.

“We had the front paddock [at the old grandstand], the apron was full of people,” he said. “About that time, we were averaging between 15,000 and 16,000 a night, so it would be 25,000 and 30,000 people there, for sure. It was a major sporting event in the New York-New Jersey area at that time.

Seven years after he retired from driving and 22 years after he won his last Meadowlands Pace, Campbell still holds the record for the most Pace victories. He won the race seven times between Hilarion’s triumph in 1982 and 2002.

Campbell’s second Pace victory came in 1989 with Dexter Nukes (replay here).

“Well, again, there was luck involved,” Campbell said. “My uncle George Gilmour trained him and Bruce Ranger was driving him and he started in the Jersey Sires Stakes. I had a horse for Johnny Edmunds — I can’t even remember his name — that I thought was going to be a pretty good 3-year-old colt. Bruce didn’t get along that well [with Dexter Nukes] in the first few legs of the Sires Stakes and Tom Dexter, who owned Dexter Nukes, told George he had to make a change. George called me and he said, ‘Will you go with him?’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve got that other colt and I think he’s a pretty good colt, but as long as they don’t get in the same division I’ll go with Dexter Nukes.’

“Fortunately, they split. Dexter Nukes won and the other colt was never heard from again. He didn’t race well that night and didn’t do much else. I got the drive on Dexter Nukes for the rest of the year.

“It was really a special thing with my uncle and my aunt, Pat, involved. It was a family deal. [Dexter Nukes] had such a great run during that summer meet at The Meadowlands. He was just hard to beat.

“Going into Meadowlands Pace, I was really confident. He won the Jersey Classic over a bad track. There were some really good horses in there. I was really confident in him, I just knew I needed a breather down the backstretch and that would be enough for him and he won rather easily.”

Campbell won the Pace back-to-back in 1994 with Cam’s Card Shark (replay here) and 1995 with David’s Pass (replayhere).

“Cam’s Card Shark wasn’t quite as good in his elimination for the North America Cup, so I was a little concerned going into the final, but he bounced back and got a good trip [and won],” Campbell said. “In the Meadowlands Pace, he got even stronger and I thought, ‘As long as I keep him out of trouble, he’s going to be almost impossible to beat.’ He got to the front in reasonable fractions and he was so sharp… I just had so much confidence that I didn’t think there was anybody in there that could beat him at that time.”

As for David’s Pass, he was a horse that needed a good trip, Campbell said.

“I got fortunate, second-over right into the stretch,” he said. “He had to work for it, but the whole key to that horse was that he had to have a perfect trip, but he would take advantage of it and it worked out great in the Meadowlands Pace.”

In 1999, Campbell won the Pace with The Panderosa (replay here).

“He was a huge favorite and he was so good [winning] the North America Cup,” Campbell said. “Again, the only thing I thought could get him beat was if I got into a speed duel. There was a lot of action up front and I didn’t want to be involved in it, so I just rode out and parked with him the whole mile, without using him. I got up alongside the leaders around the turn and he still felt strong, even though he’d been parked with no cover, and then when I asked him in the lane he just drew off. He was just so sharp. That was his last really good race. He was never the same again.”

Two years later, Campbell won the 2001 Meadowland Pace with Real Desire in an epic battle with Bettors Delight (replay here).

“Real Desire had come down and [trainer] Blair [Burgess] asked me to qualify him,” Campbell said. “He had qualified really well and I wasn’t really sure what I was going to have for the Meadowlands Pace. I kind of kept my options open a little bit. He raced really well in the elimination.

“He was a horse that raced much better off cover than if you used him and went to the front. So, he got back away in the middle of the pack and Mike [Lachance] had gone back to the front with Bettors Delight. I caught dead cover around the last turn and had to go three-wide. Then, the horse in the 2-hole couldn’t keep up and I ducked back in just for a second, but, when I did, [Real Desire] swelled right up and took a hold of me. Then, we had a pretty great stretch duel — Real Desire and Bettors Delight. Fortunately, [Real Desire] was able to win, but he was just a horse, especially at that time, you had to race him off cover. You couldn’t use him that much the first half, but if you didn’t, he’d give you a real good run for a half.

“I think whether he would’ve won or not if he didn’t duck back in, I don’t know, but it certainly didn’t hurt him.”

The next year, Campbell won the Meadowlands Pace again, this time with Mach Three (replay here).

“He was really sharp right then,” Campbell said. “There were some really good horses – Red River Hanover won the NA Cup. What was really fun as a driver — and if you watch the replays it’s pretty impressive — when I moved [Mach Three] to the front, they were still pacing decent, but he just accelerated so quickly that even though they were going fast, it looks like they weren’t. When he crossed over and got back to the front and I could give him a breather, he swelled right up and he won rather handily.

“As a driver, that move down the backstretch, as soon as I tipped him I knew he was getting back to the front. You just don’t get that that often, but it’s a good feeling when you get it.”

Beyond Mach Three winning the Meadowlands Pace his other claim to fame was siring the great Somebeachsomewhere.

“Mach Three was just okay as a sire, but when you factor in Somebeachsomewhere it’s a major impact on the industry,” Campbell said.

Just as the Meadowlands Pace has had a major impact on the industry.

“Back in the ’80s and ’90s with that front paddock it was a special, special night.”

GREAT WEEKEND IN GOSHEN

Speaking of special nights, they don’t come much bigger than watching yourbrother be inducted into the Harness Racing Living Hall of Fame.

Trainer Jim Campbell was officially inducted last Sunday (July 7) in Goshen, NY.

“That was a great weekend, obviously for Jim, but for our whole family,” John said. “We had a contingent, including my mom and sister and nieces and nephews of Jim’s that came down. All my daughters and the grandkids were there, as well as [my wife] Paula, obviously. We just had a great weekend. We had a really nice family dinner on Saturday night and then the event on Sunday – it just couldn’t have been better.”

John said their mom, Florence, was beaming the entire weekend.

“And we had grandkids there that are one years old, up to my oldest granddaughter who is 20,” John said. “Everybody enjoyed going through the Hall of Fame and taking a look at myself and Jim’s statue. They got a kick out of that. That was a lot of fun.”

THOUGHTS ON LEGENDS DAY

Finally this week, some thoughts on the most recent edition of Legends Day at Clinton Raceway on June 30 back in John and Jim’s native Ontario.

“Legends Day never fails to impress,” John said “It’s really a good event and you really see a lot of people that you only see at Clinton, but each year you see somebody new that you haven’t seen in a long time that comes there.

“Certainly, the weather didn’t cooperate, but that didn’t dampen anybody’s spirits around there at all. It was really a good event and I was really happy to see that they included the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, because there were people there that normally didn’t come to Clinton, per se, so I got to see a number of people and chat with them. I really enjoyed that.”