A longtime love of harness racing and the help of family propelled Manitoba's Chris Brown to his first win recently, and the up-and-coming horseman will not be slowing down once the province's Great Western Harness Racing Circuit winds down later this season
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The grandson of horseman Don Brown, Chris Brown started jogging horses with Don at the age of five and then graduated to jogging by himself three years later. When Don Brown passed away in January, Chris fully took over the operation in Wawanesa. After training for a few years, Chris finally decided to take his shot at driving.
"I've always wanted to drive, it looked fun and I love the rush," Brown told Trot Insider. "Plus there's that trust you have with the horse."
On August 7, after 13 qualifying drives to get his license and in his 13th drive with his license, Brown picked up his first career driving win aboard Boom Shockalaka at Killarney.
"No words can describe the feeling," said Brown, 24. "Good friends of mine Ashleigh Cullen and Philip Giesbrecht were home from a holiday and they saw me win. Knowing I got my first win when all my family and friends were there was an amazing feeling."
Perhaps just as amazing is the story of how Brown obtained Boom Shockalaka: in a trade.
"We had a mare, Heartland Sassy that wasn't working out for us and my grandpa always wanted a chestnut horse," noted Brown. "So we traded her with Darryl Mason, gave him the mare and $400 and got Boom Shockalaka. Pretty good trade, I would say!"
The eight-year-old Blissfull Hall gelding has banked over $1,300 for Brown and owner Margaret Brown, Chris' grandmother.
"He's the best behaved horse I have ever sat behind," admitted Brown. "I jog him down the road by my grandma's farm and sometimes we pass a sprayer that's headed to a field. I'd think the horse would bolt but he just jogs right along."
On Sunday, Brown and Boom Shockalaka will aim for win number 2 at Holland Fair (click here for entries). Brown feels his chance for doubling his lifetime win total are better than they appear on paper.
"If he races like he did last weekend he just might pull it off but out here the competition is tough and there's a lot of talent out here," stated Brown. "We should do well but the five hole isn't my favourite spot to start, that's for sure. It's a race and as [horseman] Ed Tracey once told me you never know where you will finish until you're done."
Where Brown will end the year is another question. The young horseman admits he'll be on the move West to British Columbia or Alberta before trying his luck in Ontario.
"I'd like to get more experience and get my foot in the door there, find some work and maybe take a few of my own horses there to see what I can do. One day, I'd like to drive in Ontario. Guys like Jody Jamieson and Rick Zeron, they make it look like an art. They made me want to drive even more."
Even though he plans on leaving Manitoba, Brown quickly acknowledges how he couldn't be where he is by himself.
"I know that if i didn't have my family, friends or people like Travis, Jody and Ron Cullen helping me on the weekends...I couldn't do it without them."