There was once a time not many years ago when the men and women who trained and drove standardbred horses in Maryland could compete at a trio of harness tracks throughout the year without ever having to travel great distances.
But since 1990, Maryland lost Freestate Raceway in Laurel, and now Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George’s County offers a combined sum of 60 nights of live racing in the winter, spring and fall while Ocean Downs, a half-mile oval five miles west of Ocean City, fills in the void for 48 nights each summer.
Amid the limited racing opportunities, however, a trio of trainers from Southern Maryland — William “Bib” Roberts, William “Rusty” Cox and Jason Walters — have survived and succeeded.
While “Bib” Roberts has long yielded the driving chores to his son, Jonathan Roberts, a St. Mary’s Ryken High School graduate who is rapidly approaching 5,000 career driving victories, all three local trainers rarely miss a night of racing at Rosecroft.
Catch driver Jonathan Roberts, 44, a 1999 St. Mary’s Ryken High School graduate and La Plata resident who has steered home more than 4,700 winners in his career, has been among the perennial driving leaders at Rosecroft for the past two decades. Each spring and fall, Roberts is among the serious contenders for the dash-winning title along with fellow reinsman Russell Foster and Johnathan Ahle, one of the sport’s rising stars.
“I had a slow start to the meet, but then things started to turn around for me toward the end,” Roberts said. “I have had the chance to drive some really nice horses lately. I still enjoy being able to win races for Dad. I still hate to choose someone else’s horse over one of his, because you just never know when I won’t have the chance to drive another one for him.”
Although Foster initially appeared well on his way to winning the driving title during the current spring meet that ends May 18, Roberts gradually overtook him courtesy of a stellar performance late last month. During the last week of racing in April, Roberts steered home five winners on the April 28 card then added another five wins to the total on April 30, including bookend wins on the program.
On the April 28 card, Roberts steered Sheer Terror to a 1:49.4 victory in the featured $12,000 Maryland Open, one week after he guided the Delaware invader to a meet’s best 1:49 score. Roberts opened the April 30 program by guiding 4-5 favorite Post Jolene to a 1:56 victory in a Maryland Sire Stakes elimination for 3-year-old pacing fillies.
“Some of those horses coming over here from Dover Downs after their meet ended have been really good,” Roberts said. “The ones that [trainer] Willard [Reynolds] have brought over have been really good here. I mean, this is the best racing surface in the country, bar none. I drove one for [trainer] Eric Ell the other night that could not win in 1:52 at Dover, and he came here and won in 1:50.4 and did it easily.”
IT ISN’T EASYIn a demanding sport in which a win rate of 20% is considered high, local trainers have become accustomed to occasional droughts where their horses can go weeks, even months between wins. But evenings such as April 2 — when “Bib” Roberts’ trainees Peeler and Bizet both won with Jonathan Roberts in the bike — give their connections both a financial and emotional boost.
Well before his son, Jonathan, was born, “Bib” Roberts trained and drove a number of very talented pacers on the Maryland circuit, including Southern Sam, Trapeze and Yankee Co-Ed. Southern Sam has the distinction of being the first horse in harness racing history to get claimed for $100,000, while Yankee Co-Ed won numerous open stakes for 3-year-old fillies with Roberts in the bike.
Trainer William “Rusty” Cox, 62, of Waldorf has been a fixture on the circuit for five decade. During the spring meet, Cox won several races with his durable pacing mare Dice Dice Baby and older pacer Hide The Cheddar.
Cox got his start in the business over 40 years ago working under the tutelage of trainers Ed Gannon, Harry West Jr., William “Buddy” Bright and Basil Sapienza.
“I can’t drive in any of the amateur races anymore,” Cox said. “If I get hurt, then I’m done. I won’t be able to work. But it’s been a good meet. Dice Dice Baby won twice and she got a check in seven of the eight starts. Hide The Cheddar likes warmer weather. He’s had a few good starts here, but it takes him a while to really get good and he loves it when it’s warm.”
Although he did not have any horses competing on the April 30 card, Cox spent most of the evening in the paddock helping other local trainers in various ways. He hitched up the jog cart to several horses over the course of the program and guided them around the oval for warmups an hour or so before they raced.
When Dice Dice Baby or Hide The Cheddar compete he handles all of those chores himself until the post parade when a catch driver takes the lines.
Trainer Jason Walters, 46, of Hughesville has done well with a blend of pacers and trotters over the years and last month his talented trotter, Explosive Drama, recorded the 50th victory of its career with catch driver Hugh O’Neill in the bike. Explosive Drama was second in his most recent outing against conditioned trotters on April 30, but continues to impress its local conditioner.
“I’ve been fortune to train some fast horses,” said Walters, who grew up in Prince George’s County and attended the track often in his youth since his parents both worked in the paddock. “I love this place. I wish they would race here all year. I used to avoid going to Ocean Downs, but more and more I think I have to go down there during the summer.”
SEASONAL SWINGSRosecroft offers a live meet for standardbred racing from late January through May 18 each spring, then is dark for racing when the harness racing scene in Maryland shifts to Ocean Downs, a half-mile oval five in Berlin, five miles west of Ocean City. Ocean Downs hosts 48 nights of racing from May 25 to Sept. 3 then live racing returns to Rosecroft Sept. 15 through Dec. 17.
“I like the change in scenery,” Cox said. “It’s a different track, you see different people. You have racing on a half-mile track instead of a five-eighths mile track so the races don’t go as fast. But it’s a whole different outlook down there. It just seems a lot more relaxed. It takes a while to ship down there and ship back, but to me it seems worth it.”
Roberts added, “One thing about Ocean Downs is there’s always a good crowd there for the live racing for like the first seven, eight races. There’s a lot of enthusiasm and energy there. I know it’s tough on Dad, and he probably won’t race as many there as he does here because of the commute. But I love racing there.”
