It isn’t every day when you see a 15-year-old reinsman scheduled to race against adult drivers, but that will be the case this weekend.
After the Harness Horse Youth Foundation finishes its 40th celebration brunch at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame this Sunday (June 5), the festivities will move next door to the Goshen Historic Track. That is where HHYF graduate Justin Irvine, 15, will be competing against adults in a matinee event, although it won’t be Irvine’s first time over that surface.
Last summer Irvine attended HHYF’s leadership program that was held at the track. The significance is not lost on the third-generation horseman. Irvine will head postward in the Open Pace and will be driving the four-year-old Cruzing Hill.
Mark and Kelly Ford, who operate a training centre in Middletown, NY, co-ordinated finding Justin’s mount with the blessing of the horse’s owners, George and Rose Bonomo.
“Finding a horse to drive when you are not right there is tough, so I thank the Fords and the Bonomos. It will be different driving at Goshen,” Irvine said of his second career start. “On a bigger scale. The Hall of Fame is right there and with all the celebrations, there may be a bit of pressure.”
Justin’s father, Don Irvine Jr., has over 7,000 wins and is enshrined on Northfield Park’s Wall of Fame in Ohio; as is Justin’s uncle, William Irvine, with over 3,000 driving wins.
“I have never felt obligated because of my family’s success. It is just what I always wanted to do. That is why HHYF is so great. For me, I want to be a driver and a trainer and I can learn that at the camps. But I also enjoy listening to other people and their dreams. If they want to be a vet, whatever, you can learn all aspects of the sport. You meet people from so many different backgrounds who love harness racing,” he says. “My first camp was 2014 at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania, and it was eye-opening. The Goshen leadership program just built on that initial experience.”
(HHYF)