The 36-year-old driver is already half-way to John Campbell’s record of six victories.

by Debbie Little

“After the first Hambo win, it’s all downhill from there,” driver Scott Zeron said with a laugh.

Thankfully for him, that really wasn’t the case, as just two years after notching his first victory in America’s Trotting Classic with Marion Marauder in 2016, he was back in the Hambletonian winner’s circle with Atlanta, and five years after that, with Tactical Approach.

On the list of drivers with the most Hambletonian victories, Zeron is tied with five other drivers — Howard Beissinger, Del Cameron, Ron Pierce, Brian Sears, and Henry Thomas — with three. Four drivers — Stanley Dancer, Billy Haughton, Mike Lachance and Ben White, each have four wins, while John Campbell sits at the top of the list with six.

Zeron is currently in the unique position of being the only driver on that list still active.

Sitting with half as many Hambletonian victories as Campbell, Zeron said he could comprehend how difficult it must have been to win a half-dozen.

“I kind of let things flow a little bit anyway,” Zeron said. “I never make it about me, either, you know, because I could win it any given year… sometimes the trainer and definitely, sometimes the owner, that could be their only chance ever, and it’s definitely that horse’s only chance. And if you’re campaigning a horse that you believe will be a stallion, it is a huge deal to get that win. So, you individualize it that way, but, I never really, ever thought of it as about me.”

Zeron did acknowledge that succeeding in a high-profile race like the Hambletonian does come with its perks, especially for a young driver.

“The advantage to winning them is people have more confidence that you can handle yourself in pressure situations,” Zeron said. “So, you know, that always helps, because this is one of the few businesses, they don’t want young and eager, they want seasoned and experienced. So, yeah, youth is tough in this game. You want John Campbell, who’s won it six times. You don’t want the guy that you know hasn’t won it.”

According to Zeron, youth may have been beneficial for his first Hambletonian win.

“The first one I won with ‘Marauder’ was the first final I’d ever been in,” said Zeron, who was 27 at the time. “So, you’re a little naive to the significance, which always helps. Youth is the greatest thing, because you don’t know how global and significant the Hambletonian really is, at least I didn’t. So, I went in with an open mind. I was driving for [trainers] Mike [Keeling] and Paula [Wellwood], who every step of the way were, ‘Just keep the horse happy,’ and ‘hope he races well.’ It was never, ‘This is his one chance, this is our one chance.’ It was always about there’s so much more for this horse, so much more. And that was the mentality they installed in me, which helped me be patient and let races come to me with Marauder. He wasn’t a run and gun horse; he was a trip horse. And then when I went first-up with him, that was exciting, because I didn’t know, crossing the wire, if I had won.”

Zeron’s next Hambletonian success, with the filly Atlanta, had a family connection since his dad, Rick, was both the trainer and co-owner.

“Atlanta, I didn’t think could lose it,” Scott said. “I went in so confident with her to the point where I told my father, ‘Whatever you want to do, if you want to put her in the Oaks or the Hambo, I think I’m going to win either. I think she’s just an unbeatable horse.’ And obviously I raced her way too hard in the elimination, and she got beat. And that was devastating, because, like I said, I just never sat behind a horse as talented as she was, and her five races leading up to that was just like not even breaking a sweat. So, it was really exciting to see that there are horses that are just complete freaks, and to me, she was that.

“And then in the elimination, even at the three-quarter pole, I was like, ‘She’s going to go [1]:48.’ I was just, you know, thinking crazy things. That’s how good she was and how good she felt.”

According to Scott, Atlanta unfortunately went from feeling good to spitting the bit.

“And I’m sure she looked down that long quarter-of-a-mile, and said, ‘No, no, no, this is too much.’” Scott said with a laugh. “So, I thought in the elimination, I basically lost the final. That was it to me, you know, I can’t expect her to come back and be great in the final.”

In the drivers’ room before the Hambletonian final, Scott said he was looking at the program trying to figure out who was going to cut the mile.

“I ended up leaving again, having to cut it, the poor girl,” he said with a laugh. “And I got a soft half, but I didn’t get a soft quarter; I went too fast to the quarter pole. Nonetheless, when I asked her in the middle of the last turn to get separation off of Tactical Landing, she responded, and that was obviously a breath of fresh air. And she went both heats in [1]:50.4, both of them. So that was exciting. I don’t know how thrilling it was, it was more of a little bit of relief, because I told my dad she’d win.”

Scott said he was well aware at the time that it had been 22 years since the last filly, Continentalvictory (1996), had won the Hambletonian.

“So now you look dumb trying to attempt it, and I didn’t want that to be the case, so, it was a relief,” he said. “It was excitement for my family, and, you know, for my dad, a career of 50 years in the business, to have a horse like her, and he didn’t have a colt, so, you know, the Hambo wasn’t ever on the table, so he had to do it with a filly.”

Harness racing tends to be a generational pursuit, which made this victory more important to Scott.

“If you were to ask any gentlemen that started driving, what would be your No. 1 goal it would be, ‘I’d love to win the biggest race there is with my father,’” Scott said. “My dad was a trainer/driver, but he’d handed the lines over to me. It’s something I don’t even know if I could have put on a bucket list, because it just seemed like a million-to-one chance, and that was pretty cool. I don’t know if anything could actually top doing something of that importance with your own family.”

Scott’s Hambletonian hat trick came in 2023, with Tactical Approach, who had everything going for him except for his odds (12-1) and post position (10).

“As talented of a horse as he was, I didn’t think strategically he had a chance in hell,” Scott said. “So, that was just a matter of under-driving him. And, obviously, the cards that were dealt, Brian [Sears] left out of the 9-hole, so I couldn’t really leave out of the 10-hole. Then everybody was protecting the two-wide path to get Brian to keep taking back, so, then I just started up [along the rail] early. I was on the inside of everybody before the quarter pole. And then, you know, everything that transpired, everyone kept pulling, kept pulling, kept pulling, and then [Tactical Approach] was as fresh as anybody turning for home.”

Down the stretch, Scott said his attention was fully on the rail.

“I’m more focused on the inside and not going over pylons and not hooking a wheel, and I get through there, he’s trotting a 1,000 and I kind of look over to my right and nobody was over to my right,” Scott said. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s winning.’ That one was pretty cool… That one was really exciting crossing the finish line, because I knew without a doubt, I won the race, obviously, by a couple lengths. And if you’re a driver, winning on the front is more nerve-wracking, like you’re just hoping the wire comes up quickly. So, you’re just fending off people, versus tactically, just going through, moving, juking, jiving, and sprinting past horses; to me, it’s much more thrilling to pass horses late. Like I said, as talented as he was, and as good as he finished off the rest of the year, I didn’t know how I could put him in a position to win.

“All my Hambos were so different… With Atlanta, I didn’t think I could lose, with Tactical Approach, I didn’t know how I could win, and Marion Marauder, it was one of many races that [the connections] were just hoping the horse raced well. So, you know, I went in with an open mind.”

Scott is hopeful for another opportunity to get back to the Hambletonian winner’s circle again this year with one of the nice colts he drove last year at 2, which are both in Ken Warkentin’s Road to the Hambletonian Top 10.

“[Maximus Mearas S] had a sneaky good campaign last year,” Scott said of the Lucas Wallin-trained Breeders Crown runner-up. “I want to say he was top two almost every time.

“He ended the year off sensationally flying up in 26 seconds to kind of get close to Maryland’s bridle. So, yeah, I’m most excited about him. And I guess he’s training back great, too, so that’s good.

“And then [Marcus] Melander has me on Meshuggah. He’s also a nice horse. And you never know. You never know what will make it that day, or if I’ll pick up a drive.”

When asked what advice Scott would give to somebody making their Hambletonian debut, he said, “I think it was [Todd McCarthy’s] advice that I heard him say on the Cool Papa Bell [winning Hambletonian] Day. He just wanted to enjoy the day.

“I wouldn’t let strategy consume you prior to it, because guys are going to drive differently than they did in the elimination. So, just enjoy the day. It’s one of the greatest days in harness racing, the whole entire Hambo card. So, yeah, if you have a drive in it, enjoy the day, and if you can go in with an open mind, sometimes the race can come to you.”

It sounds like Scott will use that same advice himself.

“I read an article last year that Yannick [Gingras] was doing prior to [last year’s Hambletonian], and he said, ‘Yeah, it’s one of the hardest races to win, unless you’re Scott Zeron,’” Scott said with a laugh.

Campbell won his first Hambletonian in 1987 when he was 32 and his sixth and final in 2006 at 51. Scott won his first two before he hit 30 and his third when he was 34. At the ripe old age of 36, he may be able to make Gingras’ comment a reality.