There is little doubt that the Sears family is proud of their accomplishments. No, not the catalogue people -- the harness racing Sears. And they should be, from Grandpa Gene, to father Jay, to son Brian, all exceptional horsemen and talented drivers.
At Monticello Raceway on the rainy afternoon of August 28, local railbirds found that the name 'Jay Sears' was listed to drive in the eighth race.
“I’m not sure who he is, but maybe he’s related to Brian Sears,” one fan answered when queried about Jay Sears.
Jay has recorded over 1,500 career winners and has been driving sparingly over the past few decades while being involved in the horsemen’s organization at Pompano Park in Florida.
On Thursday, Jay shipped his winless sophomore Allamerican Native gelding, Gallagher, some 90 miles from Pocono Downs to Monticello Raceway looking to give his youngster a shot at an easier field of horses. The move worked, as Gallagher closed on his field to win by a neck in 2:02 over the 'sloppy' going.
Afterward, Jay was asked: “What the heck are you doing here?” due to the fact that he hadn’t driven a horse at Monticello Raceway in decades, maybe longer.
“I won my first race here some 50 years ago," Jay said, "and I’m not sure if this will be my last winner, but if it is it’ll also be at Monticello.”
Asked why he shipped his colt to the 'Mighty M,' Jay said, “Oh, I wanted to give my guy (Gallagher) a little easier competition. I haven’t driven him much at all since he first started racing this year, but I figured if the top guys could lose with him, then so could I.”
(With files from Monticello)