by Tony Elliott
As the old saying goes, "There's no place like home." For Ryan Holliday, Hanover Raceway feels very much like his second home and as the 2019 Leading Driver for wins, has the evidence to prove it. Holliday, a native of Mount Forest, just a half hour south of the Raceway, enjoys spending his summers showing off his driving skills at the track.
The 32-year-old Holliday, who has been now been driving for 12 years, has accumulated 1093 wins and over 7.3 million dollars in purse earnings in his career to date.
Holliday was raised in a Harness Racing family, learning the ropes from both his father David, and his Grandfather. After stepping away for a few years as teenager, he returned and began jogging and training horses. After experiencing the thrill of training, Holliday felt the strong pull towards becoming a driver in the sport. “Everyone wants to be a driver.” said Holliday.
Before his driving career began, Holliday went off to College after some encouragement from his parents. Upon his graduation, he promptly earned his Driver's License to drive horses full-time, as well as train horses with his dad.
Holliday’s 2019 season was something special. He captured the Top Dash Driver title for Hanover Raceway with 32 wins, 10 ahead of long-time friend and competitor Bruce Richardson. The headline “Holliday wins 5 at Hanover Raceway” was also not uncommon to see after a Saturday night card last season.
Fellow Driver and friend Bruce Richardson finished second behind Holliday last season in the driver standings for wins, but had this barb to throw at his pal. "Ryan is a good driver and a great guy, but with the early post time, will he have both eyes open by then?" Richardson teased.
One win in particular stood out for Holliday last season, which was winning the 2019 Balanced Image Trot Final, with a purse of $56,600, with Aphrodite Duke. “I don’t usually get too excited, but I was happy to get that one out of the way.” said Holliday. After not driving the horse in the elimination the week before, where the horse finished second to qualify for the final, Holliday picked up a very live catch drive, going wire to wire to win in 201.0, for trainer Andrew McCabe and Glenview Livestock Ltd. of Wallenstein.
The win ended what had been a streak for many years of bad luck in both of Hanover Raceway's signature stakes races, the Balanced Image and the Dream of Glory. Holliday was very happy to finally haul one of them in and savour victory. Like most race cards at Hanover Raceway, Holliday’s whole family was in attendance for the victory.
With the help of his Balanced Image win, Holliday made 91 trips to the winners circle in 576 starts overall in 2019 and accumulated over $624,000 in seasonal earnings, as well as a very healthy .304 UDRS. When reflecting back on his career thus far, Holliday is quick to note that his favourite horse is Platoon Seelster. The horse spent 3 years racing in Holliday’s stable. At ages 2 and 3, he won multiple OSS Gold events and finished 2nd and 3rd in $250,000 Ontario Sired Stakes Super Finals.
Holliday has transitioned recently from driving every night of the week, to more of a focussed approach, to go along with having 11 trainees in the barn. Holliday trains with his Dad (David), his brother (Ben) and a friend, Dennis. The transition from Full-Time Driver to Driver/Trainer has been very rewarding, according to Holliday. “I am enjoying the training a lot more than I used to. It’s a little more fulfilling, in getting one of your own to the races and crossing the wire first, than winning with someone elses.” said Holliday.
Ryan Holliday returns to Hanover Raceway this season, looking to defend his two titles (Leading driver and Balanced Image Champion). With his family’s support, Holliday will battle competitors on Hanover’s half mile oval, starting June 6th at a new 2 pm post time.
Tony Elliott is the Assistant to The General Manager of Hanover Raceway.
Follow him on Twitter @elliottracing99
