Minus horsepower on a cold Wednesday, Austin Hanners is looking forward to a better weekend in Canada, where he’s qualified three prospects to win. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Washington Court House native Austin Hanners prepped Wednesday night for the harness racing World Series this weekend in Canada…The Breeders Crown, outside Toronto.
Dayton, OH — There is something rather noteworthy happening in Toronto, Canada this weekend.
It is baseball’s World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays hosting the Lo$ Angele$ Dodger$ in the Rogers Centre Skydome.
Austin Hanners is a baseball fan and played the sport at East Clinton High School near Washington Court House.
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And he will be in Toronto this weekend. But baseball won’t be even a quick thought in Hanners’ mind.
He won’t be anywhere near Rogers Centre. He’ll be 23 minutes away at the Woodbine Mohawk Racetrack for Canada’s biggest harness racing event of the year, The Breeders Crown.
Hanners qualified horses for three events and is confident all three have a legitimate chances to light up the tote board.
The 26-year-old Hanners is warming up this week at Dayton Raceway, if warming up is the right phrase. On Wednesday afternoon/night, Hanners was in a sulky for 11 of 14 races on the coldest day of the summer.
“Good preparation for Canada because it’ll be cold up there, but it doesn’t affect my driving,” he said.
As Wednesday’s races began, Hanners was fifth in the Dayton Raceway drivers standings behind Chris Page, Jeremy Smith, Brett Miller and Tyler Smith.
Hanners checks Wednesday’s racing form at Dayton Raceway. He ranks fifth in the drivers’ standings behind Chris Page, Jeremy Smith, Brett Miller and Tyler Smith.
Page and Jeremy Smith were tied with 42 wins to Hanners’ 21. But Page and J. Smith had run 214 and 208 races to Hanners’ 174.
“Winning it is definitely on our bucket list, but I like driving the big races. That’s moreso what I’m into it for. Everybody likes to win, but I like the thrill of being in the big races,” he said.
Better competition?
“Yes,” he said with a quick grin.
Bigger purses?
“Yes,” he said with a wide-spread grin.
Hanners drove in one race in last year’s Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. and finished third, giving him a taste of the Breeders Crown.
He had never been to Canada until last week when he qualified three horses for the Friday and Saturday racing and said, “My first time up there last week for the elimination races and I’m excited to go back.”
And the qualifiers?
Helen’s Exotic, “The horse I drove in it last year,” he said. “He’s in the open trot. Skywalker C, “She’s in the 3-year-old filly pace,” and Always Be Naughty, “She actually won her prep up there last week, so I’m looking forward to her.
“I think all three have a shot,” he said. “The other two were third in their elimination races, so I’m hopin’ it will work out good.”
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Early in Wednesday’s races at Dayton, Hanners could see a lot of horse tails in front of him and said, “I didn’t have a whole lot of power, so hopefully this weekend I’ll have a lot better shot and a lot better luck.”
After playing basketball and football at East Clinton High School, Hanners began racing when he was 17, a natural progression because horse blood is family wide.
“It’s a family thing,” says Hanners of his love for horses and racing. A former high school linebacker at East Clinton high school, he’s the fourth member of his immediate family to drive standardbred horses.
“It’s a family industry,” he said. “I’ve got cousins here that drive, my brother drives, my father drove and his father drove. It’s one of those things that’s been a family affair.”
Family re-unions and family holiday gatherings are all about horses, “And that’s about all the conversations are about,” he said.
Of his driving, Hanners said, “I just love the family atmosphere we have with it. Our talks usually aren’t about much of anything else. We’re all pretty competitive, too, so it usually goes that way.”
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It’s called horse one-upmanship.
“Racing is fun and definitely keeps you on your toes,” he said, although toes aren’t much of a factor coming down the stretch like a Roman chariot race.
Although this is only Hanners’ ninth year in the seat, he has some noteworthy wins on his resume.
“My biggest win probably was the Charlie Hill at Scioto Downs, I won that this year,” he said. “I won a Sires Stake here in Dayton this year, too, for $300,000. Those are my two biggest.”
And like most harness drivers, Hanners is in it until they pull the reins out of his hands.
“I’ll go with it for as many years as they let me,” he said. “Knock on wood, I’ve never had any bad accidents. I’ve had my share, but nothing that made me miss any time. Let’s keep it that way.
“This is all I do and all I want to keep doing, God willing,” he added.
Hanners is a svelte 160 pounds but confessed that he once weighed 245 pounds, a large load for a horse to drag around a track. Hanners isn’t certain how he lost 85 pounds, “Other than I just grew out of it.”
As a freshman at East Clinton, he started at defensive tackle and tight end,” he said. “Then my sophomore year I moved to linebacker and running back. That’s when I lost a lot of weight.”
Hanners wouldn’t say he likes horse racing better than football and basketball, but added, “I’m a little more equipped for this.”
So while the Blue Jays do battle with the Dodgers Friday, Hanners will try to do what Shohei Ohtani does…do everythng right and do it in an awesome way.
That means going three-for-three in Toronto.
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