Brad Chisholm is enjoying being back home in New Jersey
by Debbie Little
Who says you can’t go home? Certainly not driver Brad Chisholm, who was honored on Friday (March 13) as The Meadowlands Driver of the Week with five wins in 13 starts the previous weekend (March 6-7).
Chisholm, 28, who like another Freehold native was “Born in the USA,” has no recollection of his earliest days living in New Jersey, because his mom and dad left the Garden State and moved back to their native Australia less than a month after Chisholm was born.
After 25 years Down Under, Chisholm, who has dual citizenship, moved to the U.S. in 2023 and hasn’t wasted any time making memories.
He said things weren’t looking great at that time in Melbourne for racing, and he remembers having a conversation with Anthony Butt, who drove the great Down Under champ Lyell Creek.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to get to an age where I wish I went,’” Chisholm said. “‘I’d rather give it a go, and if I fail, at least say that I did it, then regret not coming over at all.’ And he said, ‘I can get you a job straight away.’”
Butt mentioned something about trainer Nifty Norman, who Chisholm had never met or spoken with, so he thought it was something that he might get brought up again at some future point, but wouldn’t go anywhere, but he was wrong.
“The next day he says, ‘Yep, you’re in,’” Chisholm said. “‘[Norman] said he’d love to have you.’ So, two weeks later, I actually flew over here [to New Jersey].”
Chisholm spent a majority of his first two years back in the States with Norman, until the trainer cut down on horses.
“He gave me notice, and he said, ‘I’m just going to let you know, because I don’t want you to be stuck, but it might be an opportunity to go explore elsewhere over here and see how someone else does it, too,’” Chisholm said. “And I was totally fine with that, so it was on good terms.”
Chisholm then worked for trainer Joe Holloway for about six or seven months, before landing his current job in the stable of Brett Pelling.
“I’ve always kind of followed Brett, and my wife [Tea] works at Brett’s, too, and everything kind of just fell into place,” Chisholm said.
According to Chisholm, he learned a lot from all three trainers, which he greatly appreciated because they all taught him something different.
“The three of these guys, Brett, Nifty, and Joe, not one of them is similar, even the two Kiwi guys, Nifty and Brett, that actually were working together years ago,” he said.
Pelling said he thinks Chisholm is taking the right approach to what he wants to do.
“If [driving is] what you want to do, I actually truly feel like in a lot of things, just show up,” Pelling said. “Just show up, be dedicated to what you’re doing, and you’ll get the opportunity. And, like I’ve said to him, ‘The most important thing is really to make fewer mistakes.’ And I think for a young guy, that’s kind of the key thing.
“He’s good to talk to. He’s a good student. I think he keeps close tabs on other horses, other people, which is kind of important. And, yeah, I think he’s studying it, he’s working it.”
Today (March 20) marks the first day of spring, which means that The Meadowlands’ top drivers will be returning soon from their winter break. With that in mind, young drivers like Chisholm will eventually get fewer opportunities.
“So, if I didn’t have a job as far as working for Brett in the morning, I might have considered a Tioga, or even a Plainridge like just venturing out, because if I could, I would race seven days a week, every week, and look, that’s what I want to do,” Chisholm said. “But just having that job in the morning, which I love and learn a lot, even though Brett would never say no to racing somewhere or whatever, if you had to leave work early, it’s still a lot to commit to and you don’t want to do it half-hearted.
“He’s asked me and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d like to drive.’ And he said, ‘No worries, I’ll give you a shot.’”
In the coming months, Chisholm will probably focus more on Pocono and Harrah’s Philadelphia, but also be at The Meadowlands, especially on Friday nights, when a lot of drivers will be at Yonkers.
“I always need someone around me like that, because we have a lot of young horses, so young horses need experience,” Pelling said. “One of the key things with me is, when they’re young like that you can’t be aggressive, and we just need to teach them. I try and give as few instructions as possible, and really just watch to make sure that he’s understanding what we’re doing. And so far, he has been.”
Chisholm said he thinks part of the reason that Pelling is so willing to give him a chance is because he’s been through all of this with his son Jack, 30, who also rode horses in the mornings, and drove in qualifiers just like Chisholm.
“I’ve been lucky for the last four years I basically had Jack doing all of that and driving,” Brett said. “One thing about Jack and Brad, if I send them to Pocono on a maiden, or down to Chester with a maiden, or something like that, you know, they can race it the right way… I think with Brad and Jack it’s an understanding, and they know that it’s all about doing the right thing by the horse and the bottom line is, and Brad basically knows this, if it’s a really, really good horse, more than likely it’ll get handed over to one of the [top] guys, but also, good horses are hard to come across.
“So, that’s why having Brad and Jack driving these young horses and getting them going and getting them to that place is a great asset to me.
“One of the things that I’ve said to people before is when it’s all said and done, when I hang it up, I’d like people to think of me or remember me as being a good teacher… So, when someone comes along like Brad, I tell him things. I tell him why, and I tell him traits, tendencies, why we do this and that. And I try and talk to him about horses and how we do things and everything, and make sense of it, and give him a reason. And I like that.
“I like promoting young guys. It’s a good thing.”
