by John Berry

Few of us have ever heard of Hipparchus, known for discovering the first nova, meaning new star.

In today’s world of amazement, astronomers have something called gravitational lensing to discover 44 new stars in a distant galaxy.

New stars are continually being discovered in harness racing as well, as the youth that have chosen our sport as their vocation begin to make their mark on our racetracks.

Back a bit more than 50 years ago, I used to have lunch with Dave Magee — before he was famous — at a cafeteria across from Maywood Park.

Hard working, classy, respectful, talented, I knew, even back 50 years ago, Magee would be Hall of Fame worthy.

Fast forward 30 years or so — late 2004 — and here I was at Pompano Park catching a qualifier or two and saw a 16-year-old make a sharp pari-mutuel like quarter-move to the top with a horse and win in 1:55.1, :56.4.

The kid’s name was Matt Kakaley and by just looking at the way he handled that horse, I had that feeling that he, with the same credentials as Dave Magee, would, someday be highly regarded in our sport.

Since the days of O G’s Charlene, Kakaley is closing in on 7,000 wins with almost $120,000,000 in purse earnings for the owners and trainers that have benefitted from those same “Dave Magee traits.”

Just a few years ago at The Pomp, gents like Marvin Luna, Braxton Boyd and Brett Beckwith spent the infancy of their years in the sport right in South Florida, all building credentials worthy of note and all being in their early 20s, something our sport has sorely needed over the years.

For me, the search for youth always continues, watching for youngsters to carry the torch for our sport for decades to come.

Two young men have caught my eye these days — Zyler Maxwell and Jesse Barnard, both drivers in their teens — both winners in their respective USHDC amateur events at Oak Grove Racing and Gaming in recent weeks.

Zyler Maxwell, now 18, got his first drive — and win — in Philadelphia — not PA, but MS — yes, in an afternoon fair at Mississippi’s version of Philadelphia, population about 7,000.

The 16-year-old won with the sophomore filly Rockin Ella Mae in 2:01 from the second tier, and compiled a .322 batting average in his 29 starts that year.

In 2023, he won 19 of 49 starts, had a UDRS of .531 leading up to his best year in 2024 with 21 wins and $126,353 in bounty for his owners.

This year, thus far, he has five wins and is now just one win away from a milestone 50th win.

In a recent interview, Maxwell spoke about his entree into harness racing.

“Before I started in harness racing, nobody in the family raced horses,” he said. “As a young kid, I always wanted a horse but, in reality, ‘team roping’ was the only thing I had in mind. One day in 2017, my mom mentioned to a friend, Jeffery Hunt, that I liked to ride horses, I was 11 [years old] at the time and arrangements were made for me to ride horses.

“The next day, we went to Mr. Julius Beck’s barn and there was a guy jogging a horse.

I was very confused because all I had been accustomed to was seeing riding and roping videos and had never seen anything like a horse jogging before. They had a yearling filly there and Mr. Hunt said I could care for her, like clean her stall, feed her and brush her. I knew nothing about young horses, especially standardbred horses, in general.

“A couple of days later, they had a couple of older studs that were training to race and they let me jog for the first time. Rockin Snowman and Cruising With Koby were the two horses and ‘Rockin’ won a race at the [Philadelphia] fair in 2:06 and, you know who was also in the race? Geremy Bobbitt, who is doing great for himself today.

“Cruising With Koby also won a race at the fair in 2:04 and something [2:04.2] and didn’t make much money [$1,454], but, after getting the thrill of jogging those two, I was hooked and knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Jesse Barnard, 19, comes from “the other side of the road” in a number of ways.

“Foaled” in Montreal, QC, his family is heavily involved in racing with his mom and dad stabling at The Meadows — his mom, by the way, a member of the iconic Turcotte family.

“My dad, Robert Barnard, has been in the business ‘forever’ [USTA records show 2000] and they are my biggest influences and a guy I work for Rob Laffoon, too,” Jesse said. “They taught me — and continue to teach me — all the many things that make a great horseman and, one day, I hope to be in that category.

“Another horsemen that I look up to is my uncle, Mel Turcotte, who taught me to always stay humble, win or lose. I consider my family to be really good horsepeople that have the ability to figure out problem horses. They work hard and have taught me well. To be successful in this business, you really have to work hard and I am so willing to do that.

“I get to the barn as the sun comes up — maybe a little before that — take care of all the horses and then get the jogging done and then go back and make sure all of our horses are safe and sound. On race days, we’re at the track all day — and sometimes into the night — but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“My career as a trainer/driver — yes, I train some — began last year and my first win was at the Butler [PA] County Fair with a filly I owned named Dig Deep. She won in 2:01 with a last half in :59 and, to make it even more special, I had a second-tier post, so it was extra special.”

HRU then asked if Jesse had an idol in the sport.

“Absolutely,” he said, “My idol is Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. because of kind, professional demeanor. He gives his horses every opportunity to win and do its best. I am hoping, someday, to have a large stable of my own and be a good enough driver that, if someone is looking for a catch driver, they would put me down to drive, just like last week in the amateur race at Oak Grove.

“That was quite a thrill for me, Mr. Oke allowed me to drive his horse and he went a big mile to get his first win of the year. He really dug in for me when it counted. Going to the gate, I remembered some advice from Ronnie [Wrenn] and Aaron [Merriman] and they taught me, ‘If you have a horse that can leave, leave with authority!’”

Harness racing needs 1,000 more teenagers like Maxwell and Barnard, you know, the ones still below drinking age, like Kyle Swift, Carson Conrad, William Carter, Colton Noble, Wyatt Long and Wyatt Farmer, to carry the torch forward and preserve and add to the great history of our grand sport.

On top of that, we need countless carbon copies of Ellen Taylor, who does such outstanding work on behalf of our sport with the Harness Horse Youth Foundation with programs, educational initiatives, workshops and scholarships literally fostering the next generations of participants in our sport, whether they be drivers, trainers, farriers, caretakers and, equally important, fans.

Time stops for no one as we continue to search for stars in our harness racing galaxy.

MAY THE HORSE BE WITH YOU