The feel of teal drives horsewoman Lorie Davis

by Chris Lomon

The horsewoman in teal has no shortage of zeal for the standardbred world.

Her career has been anything but linear, but Lorie Davis has always maintained a passion and reverence for horse racing and its equine athletes.

Davis’ connection to the sport goes back to the 1980s, when she would accompany her family, who owned racehorses, to various harness racing tracks across the U.S. Midwest.

Some of her fondest memories are of the moments soon after one of their pacers or trotters crossed the wire first.

“I can remember being around 7 and going out with my family to the winner’s circle at Lebanon Raceway [in Ohio],” she said. “It’s nice to look back at those days and recall all those fun times.”

Although she had a deep affinity for all things racing, following her family’s path into the sport was not exactly a 1-9 slam dunk.

While joining the racing ranks in some capacity was a consideration, others felt she was tailor-made for a life on the racetrack and in the barns.

“My mom kind of pushed me toward racing,” Davis said with a laugh. “She had me training with her at a young age — I was probably around 11 or 12 and would sit in the cart with her — and she would tell me that I had a pretty good hand with horses who are a little bit crazy. She told me, ‘You need to drive and do this.’”

One of her earliest decisions came in the form of fashion, so to speak, specifically the look she would sport whenever she was in the race bike.

She had one caveat: whatever it was, it had to be different from what her contemporaries were wearing.

After some deliberation and consideration, she landed on teal, a deep blue-green color named for the colored area around the eye of the common teal bird.

“I chose that color because no one had that color back in those days and it was a newer color that had come out,” Davis said. “My mom had blue colors, so the teal was an extension of that. I gravitated towards teal and that’s what I landed on. I think at that time it was technically called something like Caribbean Blue.

“I don’t like to be the same as everyone else. I like to be a little different.”

Davis’ first pari-mutuel win photo in that look came on March 11, 1996, at Lebanon Raceway.

She landed the drive aboard free-legged pacer Senator Bestman after her male driving contemporaries had passed on the chance to partner with the son of Bestman Hanover.

“I had won a matinee when I was very, very young, at Greenville [in Ohio],” she said. “It was just me and another person in the race, so this one at Lebanon was special for a lot of reasons. Nobody wanted to drive Senator Bestman because he was a tough one to handle. He would break stride and take other horses out.

“But we just clicked. I was able to get him away from the gate without him doing anything dumb.”

The smart score 30 years ago saw Davis and the bay cross the wire a length clear of the 7-5 choice in 2:03.1.

“I had to drive against men when I started out, which was a challenge in itself,” she said. “But I always enjoyed it when I got the better of them.”

In 1998, Davis, who would begin the training side of her standardbred career 10 years later, won a career-best seven races in the sulky.

After a nine-year absence from driving, Davis returned to the role this year.

On Aug. 26, at Greenville, she won the sixth race on the card with Rock The Dragon, a son of Fear The Dragon.

It was a meaningful victory for Davis.

“I hadn’t driven for nine years,” she said. “I became very good friends with [horsewoman, outrider at Scioto Downs] Jazmin Short when I moved back to Ohio and she would talk to me about it. My health was getting better. When I was in Delaware, I had back surgery and other health issues. But everything has been better since I moved back home.

“She said, ‘You should try it [driving]. I told her I didn’t think I wanted to do it, but after talking more with her and giving it some thought, I decided to give it a shot again.”

Davis is glad she did.

“The feeling never changes,” Davis said. “It is such a great feeling. Even behind the gate is a huge emotional rush when the horse has a good hold of you and you just know… this is it, we’re going.”

These days, Davis is in the driver’s seat when it comes to handling her career.

Aside from driving, she also trains a few horses of her own and works in the barn of trainer Michael Hitchcock, a lifetime winner of more than 2,050 races.

Setting her own pace, work-wise, has enabled her to enjoy the sport perhaps more than ever.

“I have a full plate, but I am so happy,” she said. “Mike has been superior. I have my horses right there at his farm, in a state-of-the-art facility.

“And then there is Daniel Holmes, the man in my life, who has supported me so much with getting back into driving. I feel very lucky I landed where I did. Everything is in perfect harmony.”

Those words could also be applied to one of her off-track talents.

Although she doesn’t have much time to dedicate to it, Davis, every now and again, will pick up a familiar musical instrument.

“I went to college to be a musical educator,” she said. “I played the saxophone throughout high school. I sat lead chair almost every year of high school and was second chair in college. I was in the jazz band and I really enjoyed it. Now, it’s a rare occasion where I take it out, but I still do.”

Rediscovering her love of racing is the horsewoman in teal’s greatest joy.

“I stuck with it,” she said. “I feel like I am having a pretty successful career again and I’m grateful for that.”