Whether it is horses or cars, the Ohio native racks up the miles.

by Murray Brown

Look at the numbers. As of this past Tuesday, Aaron Merriman, at the age of 46, has driven the winners of 16,121 races which have earned $121,179,923.

As astounding as those numbers may be, that ranks him only second in winning races behind long-time leader Dave Palone, 62, who has had 21,033 trips to the winner’s circle.

When asked if he hopes to one day surpass Palone in wins, Merriman’s response is that it is not something to which he ever gives thought. It isn’t even a high priority item for him. He loves what he does. His primary mission is to just keep on keeping on.

In any event, as long as Palone continues to drive at the level he does, there is no reason to think that he could even come close to achieving his numbers, at least not for many years to come.

Year after year, you continue to commute between your two home tracks of Northfield Park and The Meadows, usually driving 20 or more races in any given day. Just the car driving alone might be something that would exhaust most humans. Then add to it eight or more hours of driving horses of all rank and ability in all sorts of weather conditions. What motivates you to subjecting yourself to doing it?

“You’ve got it all wrong. You speak of it as a chore that is totally demanding of both my body and mind. I see it as a great privilege.

“I’m a lucky guy. My work is also my greatest pleasure. I truly love harness racing and everything that goes with the sport.

“Firstly, I love the horses — from the lowliest of claimers to the fastest and best ones that I’m put behind.

“I love racing, not only the competition, but also the camaraderie associated with the sport. I love it all, the trainers and owners I work for, the grooms who take care of the horses and, believe it or not, my colleagues out on the racetrack, my fellow drivers. They say that friendship ceases out on the racetrack. That is true. But some of my best friends in this life are also those with who I have engaged in some of the fiercest battles while racing. But once the race is over, we turn the page.

“The car driving can get to be a bit of a chore, especially in the winter months when the road conditions can get challenging. The trip from my home in Ohio to The Meadows takes about two hours in either direction. It can get to be demanding, but it really isn’t that bad. The roads are good, much better than they used to be. I’m a big sports fan, so I’m often listening to sports radio as I drive.

“Best of all, my best friend of over 30 years, Wyatt Irvine, often drives with me. Time goes a whole lot faster when we get to BS’ing with each other.

“To a lesser extent, extreme weather may also apply to driving horses. I guess I may be one of the lucky guys who’s comfort level is not significantly affected by bad weather. I’ve never felt the need to cover my face and my ears regardless of how cold it gets. Don’t get me wrong. I’d much sooner be racing on a mild spring day with the temperature in the 70s than in near blizzard conditions. But I’ve learned to accept whatever nature decides to bestow on us.”

You mentioned being a sports fan. Do you have any favorite sports or favorite sports teams?

“My two favorite sports are football and basketball. But I pretty much enjoy watching all sporting events. The teams I really like are Cleveland centric. I’m a Browns season ticket holder and I also go to a lot of Cavaliers games. In summer, I follow the Guardians (I’m still having some trouble not calling them the Indians). Like you, I also follow college hoops and I am a big Duke fan.

“Of course, being an Ohio native, I’m a big Ohio State fan. I’ll admit that hasn’t been easy the last four years. If you are a Buckeye fan, your year begins and ends with the game against that team from up North. You can win all your other games, but if you lose to Michigan, your season has been a monumental failure. Conversely if you beat them, it matters very little how you have fared with the rest of your schedule. You’ve had a great year.”

Let’s get back to harness racing. You have driven against and watched most of the great drivers of the last three decades. How do you rate them?

“I guess most would rate John Campbell as number one. I’m not about to disagree with anyone who rates him on top.

“But I’ve got my own personal GOAT. That would be ‘The Buckeye,’ David Miller. I look upon him as defying most of the laws of nature. He just turned 60 a few days ago. He is driving at least as well and perhaps better than he ever did. He is just amazing. It matters little, if at all, whatever horse you put him behind. He is almost always going to drive it as well as it can possibly be driven. He is just amazing.

“Another amazing ‘old’ guy is Dave Palone, here at The Meadows. Dave is even older than David at 62, but he is still as hard-nosed a competitor as you are going to find anywhere.

“Another great driver named Miller is Brett. Ronnie Wrenn can compete with just about anyone anywhere. Give him the right horse and he will do well with it. Of course, the down under guys, Dexter Dunn and the McCarthy brothers, are exceptional as is James MacDonald in Canada.

“A kid with tremendous potential in my opinion is Hunter Myers who has joined Ronnie Wrenn and myself in doing double duty at both Northfield and The Meadows.

“I think that there are more great drivers than there ever were. Wherever you go, there are guys who can make horses go fast. Of course, the horse itself has to have the ability to be able to do that. It’s up to us guys to try to help them show it.”

How about horses — pacers and trotters?

“To me the pacer that impressed me the most ever was Wiggle It Jiggleit. I thought he was a truly amazing horse. He had it all. He was extremely fast and oh so very game. It’s a shame that he became unsound and we were robbed of not seeing how great he might have become. His story was also exceptional. He showed that the little guy, be it, a breeder, owner, driver or trainer can do it at the highest level.

“Among trotters, I’d go with Muscle Hill. Not only was he great, maybe beyond great. Not only did he stand out, but he was never even seriously challenged. It’s somewhat of a shame that he didn’t race beyond the age of 3 and gone overseas and shown the world how great an American-bred trotter really could be. I suppose the counter argument to that could be that if he didn’t enter the stud when he did, our breed might have been robbed of a great deal of its destiny.”