In 2025, for the second time in his life, driver Colin Kelly packed his back and went on a new adventure. The winner of over 2,000 career races in Canada headed south of the border and for the time being has set up shop at Monticello Raceway in New York. A native of Nova Scotia, Kelly comes from a harness racing family and is hoping his current move will be a permanent one where he can make a good living. Following a full day of work jogging horses and then driving at Monticello, Kelly took the time on his drive home to chat about his path in the sport and what his future may look like.   How did you get started in harness racing? My grandparents on both my mom and my dad’s side had racehorses. I got my first racehorse on my twelfth birthday. I didn’t really have much of a choice, you had to go to the barn; just kidding. Was there any chance you wouldn’t be involved in the sport then? At one point in time when I was playing high school sports I had given it up for a little bit. I was just too busy with sports so I took a step away, but that was long before I could drive. I got my license when I was 19 and I started to catch-drive back in Nova Scotia three days a week during the summertime. One year it was like October I decided to take a job in Ontario. I had just turned 22 and I was picking up the odd catch drive here and there. Come that spring I managed to pick up three or four drives a night and then I started having full cards every night at the B tracks in Ontario. I never really thought about doing anything else. So you just packed your bags and headed to Ontario one day? Yeah, pretty much. I had nowhere to live or anything when I went. I stayed in a hotel for a month and then got an apartment. From 2018 to 2023 your stats in Canada were fairly consistent with an average of 262 wins and $1.33 million in earnings. What changed to see a drop-off to 182 wins and 920K in 2024? I took some time away. I kinda hurt myself in mid-winter when a horse jumped something on the track. I got banged up and missed a bunch of time. One thing led to another and it was hard to get work back; kind of an out of sight, out of mind thing. You made the decision to head south to the U.S. in March of 2025. Why? A friend of mine asked me to come ride for him in the morning, I’ve always kind of thought about it and really the only thing that kept me in Canada was that I had a couple of horses of my own to drive. One thing led to another, it was kind of slow with not a lot of tracks racing in Canada, so it seemed like a good time. At the end of April all of the stakes programs start up and the drivers travel, so it will give me an opportunity at a bunch of tracks. I also figured before I get too much older I might as well try it. I saw you posted on Facebook about how John Campbell came here and made it big, perhaps hoping for the same thing for yourself? Yeah, actually on the last card John Campbell ever drove up at Clinton I won three that day and he was in all three win pictures. You are working with Jared Bako at the Mark Ford Training Center in New York. Are you busier now than when you were in Canada? Way busier. There are a lot of horses to drive in the morning. I only had six or seven today and then I go to Monticello. I’ve been going to The Meadowlands and also Yonkers qualifiers trying to show up. I want to try to do Tioga and see where it goes from there. They go Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so with Monticello that will put me at racing seven days a week. I want to get as much work as possible. About six weeks in, are you happy with how it has gone? I’m really enjoying it. The people here are great and are all easy to get along with. I knew it was going to take a minute to get started and I’ve been lucky that I have almost a full card every day at Monticello now. I drive a couple at The Meadowlands. It’s been good. Do you plan to commit long term to staying in the U.S.? Things are setting up ok, so hopefully I can make a run at other tracks and stick around. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? The Meadowlands, because when I was a kid we would sit in my basement and watch it religiously every night. That was back when [John] Campbell, [Mike] Lachance, [Luc] Ouellette, [Brian] Sears and George Brennan were there. When I won that race there Saturday night it was cool because I never could’ve dreamed of it. I think it is a very special place to race a horse. Speaking of that first win at The Meadowlands with Gazoo, what was going through your mind when you were ready to pounce on the field to win that race? It was pretty surreal. I thought he was going to win last week and he missed by a neck. When I called on him he was pacing out of his skin. It was amazing. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? If I have time I like to play golf, but I’m so busy right now there is not a whole lot of time for anything outside of harness racing. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don’t know? The place where I grew up, Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Family. What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten about harness racing? It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Everything doesn’t happen all at once. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter What was your best moment in harness racing? I won a final on Camluck Classic night in Ontario. It was a 3-year-old filly final with a very cool filly named Significance that hadn’t been beaten at that point. The crowd and the atmosphere was great. It was pretty special to me. Do you think most bettors in the U.S. know that you won driving titles at Grand River and Western Fair in 2021? I doubt it. I’ve been here for six weeks and you hardly see Canadian racing on in America because there is so much going on here. Maybe if they’ve seen it online but probably not. Ideally, where do you see yourself in five years in terms of your driving career? What tracks are you racing at? I’d love to try to stay around New York. It seems like a good spot and it is pretty central. Yonkers would be the ideal place, it is an hour down the highway for me. It seems like they race very good horses there on a year-round basis with some of the best trainers right now. I love half-mile racing, so I’d love to be there. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I like what The Meadowlands is doing with no drag time. I feel like the average person or if I brought friends to the track when I was back in Canada, they see the board at zero [minutes to post] and don’t understand why the race isn’t starting. There is still going to be time between races but we should be behind the gate at zero. For driving, I know when they add time to the clock and you have a warm horse that is the worst. They do it three times a day at Monticello. It is kind of a pet peeve. If you think Monticello is bad with drag, have you watched Northfield? Yeah, they play like three songs while they’re on the track. How do you view the future of harness racing? I think with the way the stakes program is right now, the Ontario Sire Stakes are great, but with the way things are in Kentucky, Ohio and even in New York and the surrounding area, it’s awesome to see what is being built. The sales for babies are good and the state programs are going in the right direction. Going forward I think things look great. What does a day in the life of Colin Kelly look like? I’m at the barn at 5 a.m. Usually when I’m done I have to jump right into the car to go to Monticello. Then I have a bite to eat, a quick shower, maybe run to the gym and then a quiet evening unless I have to go to a track at night. That’s the extent of it. Time for the stretch drive... Best Horse you ever saw: Somebeachsomewhere. I actually drove three hours before he ever raced to watch him at Truro Raceway. There was a lot of early buzz about that horse early. That Brent MacGrath had a colt that was a killer. The track was terrible that day. He trained on an icy track in like April. Lasix – Yes or No: I’m a believer in it for a horse that really needs it. Favorite TV Show: Landman or Seinfeld. Trotters or Pacers:  Pacers. Where I grew up there really weren’t a lot of trotters. I like a nice trotter but to win a big race on the pace is more my thing, I guess.