If you take a close look at the Woodbine drivers’ standings this season, there is a noticeable change near the top of the leader board.
Twenty four-year-old Jonathan Drury is currently in second place, three wins behind three-time O’Brien Award winner Jody Jamieson.
Drury, a resident of Rockwood, Ont., has certainly made the most of his drives this season, as he has made 23 trips to the winner’s circle and driven his mounts to $335,471 in purse earnings.
Drury is also the regular pilot behind Hldontghttoyurdrms, who recently captured the $34,000 Preferred Trot for a fourth week in a row for trainer Corey Johnson.
“It’s definitely horse power,” Drury said explaining his stellar start in 2014. “When you get that kind of power to sit behind every night and get results, obviously your confidence goes up. So far this season, everything couldn’t be better and I’m very fortunate.”
Drury was born into the harness racing business. His father, Barry, has operated a small stable for many years.
Jonathan, who appears poised in his yellow and blue silks, a nod to his father’s colours, is thankful for the valuable lessons he learned at a young age.
“All the fundamentals of this sport came from my parents,” Jonathan said. “My dad was stabled along the Mohawk backstretch for many years and my mother (Patricia) was in the barn, too. When I wasn’t in school I was in the barn or on the track.”
Drury also ventured out to other trainers before and after getting his trainer’s license, and he gained valuable experience while working with such conditioners as O’Brien Award winner Casie Coleman, Tracey Brainard and Tony Montini.
“That was a great learning curve for me,” Drury said. “I got to see other methods of training and see the way they do it and run their operation. I’ve worked for Casie off and on for the past three years and got the opportunity to drive for her, which was amazing.”
After gaining his license in 2008, Drury began driving at Flamboro and Georgian Downs, but the move to Kawartha Downs a few years later and teaming up with top trainers in Corey Johnson and Carmen Auciello yielded great dividends for the young reinsman.
“I was a regular driver there (Kawartha Downs) and they started using me and we developed a relationship and it just snowballed from there," Jonathan said. "Now they both have powerful stables at Woodbine and I’m just thankful to get the work.”
Perhaps the most valuable experience Jonathan gained was a summer spent at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania where he drove regularly for Ontario-based trainer Carmen Auciello, who sent a team of roughly 12 head.
“Driving with a different bunch of guys at Pocono was a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s a little different style of driving and I learned so much in a short period of time. That was the most valuable experience I got, especially when I came back to Ontario.”
Drury was also a key player in the development of O’Brien Award winner Vegas Vacation.
Drury ‘baby-raced’ the son of Bettors Delight, before guiding the colt to victory in his first lifetime start at Mohawk Racetrack.
“I was working for Casie at the time and would sit behind her two-year-olds on a regular basis,” Drury said. “She asked me to baby-race him and teach him in his early stages and that was a lot of fun to sit behind that type of animal.”
Needless to say, Jonathan certainly has gained a lot of experience north and south of the border at a young age, and with a little patience and a lot of talent, it appears to be paying off nicely for the man they call ‘JD.’
(WEG)