“Believe it or not, I wanted to be a jockey – wanted nothing to do with standardbreds. But I thought I was too small to become a rider.” – Lauren Harmon. (Photos Courtesy of OHHA)
Now a rising female star, at 25 and a seven-year-veteran, Lauren Harmon finds herself in a surging trend, and flourishing in a sport she wanted no part of as a youngster.
By Bob Roberts for Press Pros Magazine
Cleveland, OH – Confidence and calm.
They are the opening attributes one senses when talking with Lauren Harmon. Yes, she did breakdown and cry at this past summer’s Harness Racing Hall of Fame dinner where she was honored as the amateur driver of the year, but this is the same young lady who parked her father to win her first ever race.
She was a teenager when she hung dear-old-dad out to dry at a fair in northwest Ohio, and he was not only her mentor, but a raceway veteran who had driven thousands of winners.
Veteran racing columnist Bob Roberts writes harness racing for the Ohio Harness Horseman Association.
These days, Harmon, a native of Jackson, Michigan, can be found on the backstretch at Northfield Park or up at Northville Downs at the Barry Expo Center in Hastings, Michigan, or on the road at another Buckeye raceway or county fair oval.
To say she’s busy would be an understatement. Harmon has spent the last four plus years as a groom for Anthony MacDonald’s far-reaching Thestable.ca, but will soon serve as an assistant in the Canadian horseman’s operation.
She is also the trainer-driver of two horses of her own, one of which is Readi Star, a freshman trotting filly that finished fourth in the September 26 $100,000 Gray Championship, an Ohio Sires Stakes consolation final raced at Dayton Raceway.
All this is at age 25 and already as a seven-year veteran in a sport she wanted no part of as a youngster.
“Believe it or not, I wanted to be a jockey. I wanted nothing to do with the standardbreds,” said Harmon. “There was a show on TV called “Jockeys,” and I would stop everything I was doing to watch it. I thought I was small enough to become a rider.”
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At 5-5, 115 pounds, she had a leg up on becoming a rider, but two generations of her family tree being rooted in harness racing pulled at Harmon, and her vision of Churchill Downs quickly turned into the reality of mornings and nights at Northville Downs in suburban Detroit.
“I never got into becoming a jockey, so it was a dream that came and went,” she said. “But I was always in the barn. I always jogged horses, but I didn’t start training miles until I was 17. My dad didn’t think I could hold one. It was good that he made me wait.”
“I was always in the barn. I always jogged horses, but I didn’t start training miles until I was 17. My dad didn’t think I could hold one. It was good that he made me wait.”
Harmon’s father is Don Harmon, who recently scored the 4,000th driving success of his career at the Northville Downs meeting that is run at the Barry Expo Center in Hastings. Her stepmother, Krista Harmon, is a trainer.
About that first career victory when blood wasn’t thicker than the finish line. It came on September 1, 2018 at the Fulton County Fair in Wauseon, Ohio when Harmon went wire-to-wire behind Kandy King in 2:02 4/5, just three weeks after turning 18. The triumph was made extra sweet as she turned away a familiar challenger – her father.
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“My dad came first over and I looked over at him and just kind of set sail,” said Harmon. “I parked him. He didn’t even come close.”
In fact, Daddy Harmon finished last of six while his daughter drew off to a 4 ¾-length laugher.
“I was so nervous before the race,” said Lauren Harmon. “The trainer (Kim Pluta) told me to leave with the horse and I asked, ‘What if I don’t make it the front?’ But he left right out of there.”
Harmon’s ability to bring one home first from off the pace led to her being recognized in Goshen, New York as the 2024 Amateur Driving champion following her score in the October 4 $15,000 final at the Red Mile, where she rallied Muscles For Life to a three-quarters of a length victory in 1:54 3/5.
“My dad told me to sit tight and be patient and that’s what I did,” Harmon said in her acceptance speech. “Luckily, it worked out. I was able to slide out at the three-quarter pole.”
Harmon then thanked her parents for taking the time to teach her to be a horsewoman. That’s when emotion took over her speech.
“I can’t thank them enough,” she said, pausing between tears. “They are why I am here today.”
One of Harmon’s best memories is her first victories at the Delaware County Fair during Little Brown Jug week in 2022 behind Walkonthemoon.
She teamed with the 4-year-old trotter to score on the opening day Sunday program at the temple of speed, then returned to win again on Jug Day Thursday in the Hall of Fame Amateur Racing Series Final.
“What I remember about that first win is that my dad told me he was about the same age (22 years old) as me when he raced at Delaware and that his first win was from the eight hole, which I also had, and that we used the same move, way out in the middle of the track, to get there.”
Harmon finished second in the March 8 International Women’s Day Pace at The Meadowlands this past winter, driving the Ron Burke-trained Oakwoodjusasnob IR. They were beaten just three-quarters of a length.
Her fastest winner to date is Poof Daddy, who scored in 1:52 2/5 at Northfield Park in 2023. The horse was trained by her stepmother, Krista Harmon.
Readi Star, who earned $8,000 in last month’s Sires consolation race, is Harmon’s top performer. She purchased the daughter of Ready for Moni (she also finished second in a leg of the Ohio Sires Stakes) and has banked $29,200. Harmon purchased her for $12,000 at last year’s Buckeye Classic Sale and broke her maiden on July 26 on the Summit County Fair race program hosted by Northfield Park.
“This year is the first time I’ve trained a two-year-old down and I’ve learned tremendously through that experience,” said Harmon. “And I’m still learning and always will be.”
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Her daily routine is to be at the barn by 6:30 a.m. and is usually there until noon.
“When the babies are here, it will probably be 2 p.m.,” said Harmon. “Even if I don’t have a horse racing at night, I might come back to paddock a horse. It’s how you can make more money, so why not?”
Harmon waves off the question regarding relaxation or hobbies
“Not much. Not much time for either.”
She sees more training than driving in her future.
“Training is preferred,” said Harmon. “But if people think I have what it takes to be a driver, then I will live up to that as best as I can. Still, I’m looking to have a small stable of my own and go from there.”
Harmon is a student of the game and is quick to point out how women were prominent in this year’s Little Brown Jug.
“There were three of them in the final,” she said.
Not only is that true, but female trainers dominated the Jug’s purse paying finishing positions. Melanie Wrenn sent out runner-up Odds on Outlier, Nancy Takter was represented by third place finisher Captain Optimistic, and Deborah Daguet conditioned fourth place finisher No Tresspassing.
Who knows? There could be a fourth one come next year’s Jug in Lauren Harmon.
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