When Kurt Sugg looks back on his childhood, some of his fondest early memories of harness racing involved climbing into the family’s Ford Ranchero and accompanying his father, Ivan, on trips to the county fairs in Ohio. Sometimes, they would stop on the way to pick up driver Jeff Fout, then continue on their journey to the races.
One horse in particular at that time, a pacer named On Bret, was the centre of Kurt’s attention. The reason was simple. On Bret found his way to the winner’s circle on a regular basis. The colt won 13 of 19 starts as a two-year-old in 1978, just as the then-nine-year-old Kurt was becoming immersed in the sport.
“I remember going to the fairs and (On Bret) would win all the time; at least it seemed that way when I was there,” Kurt said, adding with a laugh, “I guess I got to thinking it was pretty easy back at that time. Being a kid, you don’t realize it’s not as easy as it appears. But from a child’s eyes, that’s the way it appeared to me.”
Kurt jogged his first horse that same year.
“My toes just barely could touch the stirrups and my butt was just on the edge of the seat,” he said. “This is kind of all I ever really wanted to do. After school, we were always down at the barn helping dad when we got old enough to clean stalls and harness horses and things like that. That’s kind of where it started.
“And I always liked the competitiveness. That really got me into it. I like being competitive.”
Eight years after On Bret’s rookie season, Kurt won his first race as a driver. In the ensuing 34 years, he has added 4,319 more, plus 1,067 as a trainer. Not surprisingly, he has cited his father as the biggest influence on his career. Ivan was the 2003 trainer of the year in the United States after guiding No Pan Intended to the Pacing Triple Crown and was inducted into the Ohio Hall of Fame in 2006.
“I didn’t work for my dad back then (when No Pan Intended raced) so it was kind of different, but I was happy to see my dad have that success in the business, which I think he deserved,” Kurt said. “He did this his whole life.
“When I was a kid, we went to the horse sales and dad would buy some yearlings, but they were always on the cheaper side, and he developed them into good stakes horses. When he got some little better horses, he proved what he could do with his training ability. That was a thrill for me to watch.”
Last year as a driver, Kurt won 361 races, the second-highest total of his career and not far from the 375 victories he posted in 2016. His $2.78 million in purses in 2019, though, were a lifetime best. He was off to a strong start this season, with his 96 triumphs tied for seventh among all drivers in North America, before racing was halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was second in the driver standings at Northfield Park, trailing only five-time national dash champ Aaron Merriman.
“This was by far the best start to a year I’ve ever had,” Kurt said. “Everything was going along very nicely for me. I’m anxious to get back to racing, but I understand we need to do what we need to do to protect ourselves and the whole nation as far as this goes.
“We have a big farm here, so we can get out and move around. But, still, not being able to go and do anything is really tough.”
Kurt has 10 horses at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Wooster and another five horses at home.
“We can sit in the living room and look out the window and see the horses in the field, so we really enjoy that a lot,” he said.
Although the sport faces an uncertain time, Kurt said people in the industry will work together to come through it.
“We’re pretty competitive on the track but when it comes down to somebody needing something and the welfare of the horses, people are going to band together to help them out,” Kurt said. “That’s good to see.”
(USTA)