Benson Merrill is a fourth-generation member of the Harness Racing community. A trainer and amateur driver, he started young and learned that it takes time to learn how to condition a horse to race. His maroon and white colors are modeled after Walter Case Jr. because he would watch videos of him driving when he was a kid.  Some 13 years after getting started in the sport as an 18-year-old, with the guidance of lifelong professionals like Bruce Ranger, Merrill's stable has seen good success on the Maine circuit and he hopes that will carry him and his wife Lauren on to further accomplishments in the future. Merrill was gracious enough to spend time discussing his journey in the sport, his recent driving win at The Meadowlands and life as a trainer from Maine.   How did you get started in harness racing? I was born into it on both sides of my family. My great-grandfather on my father's side and my grandfather on my mother's side were involved. My dad always had a few horses when I was growing up and he would let me jog them and we'd race around the fair circuits in Maine. I pretty much grew up doing it. Was there ever a chance you wouldn't be involved in the sport? When I first got married and we had kids, I didn't have horses and I worked at the shipyard for about four years building ships for the Navy. I pretty much couldn't stay away. I got a couple of horses on the side and then decided I was going to do it full time. So I quit that job and now I have 20 horses.  What kind of car do you drive? Chevy Pickup. Favorite dinner meal? Snack? Spaghetti and Meatballs; Brownies. What is your favorite track to race at? Why? Probably The Meadowlands. I got my first win there last week (December 3). I had raced and driven there a few times before. It seems to be the mecca of harness racing. What is your favorite big event in racing? Why? Probably the Breeders Crown. The racing is just so exciting. How often are horses or racing on your mind? Pretty much every day, all day. My wife says I have an obsession. Does your wife help you with the horses? She does. Seven of our eight kids are in school, so she drops them off at school and comes to the barn to help for a few hours a day. What is your favorite thing to do outside of harness racing? Riding dirt bikes and four-wheelers with my kids. What is your favorite sport to watch? Team? Baseball - Boston Red Sox. What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don't know? That I have eight kids and four of them are adopted.  What is one word that describes harness racing for you? Time - It takes a lot of time out of your life. You started training in 2008 as an 18-year-old and went 0-for-98 that first year. Was that a hard pill to swallow? Definitely a hard pill. I was young and thought I knew how to train horses but I had absolutely no idea. It was awful, but I learned some stuff.  After that you didn't train another horse until 2011. Why the gap? I went to work for some different trainers. I worked for a guy in Maine and then Scott Blackler at Mark Ford's farm when Jason Bartlett was driving them. Then I came back, met my wife, got a real job and couldn't stay away. Your career as a trainer seemed to take off in 2019 and has reached new heights this year with 111 wins in 470 starts. What changed? I was able to get better owners and better horses. Bruce Ranger helped me out a lot. I train a couple of horses for him. He is a big coach in my life. He keeps me motivated for sure. His quote is "keep swinging" and he's helped me a lot.  Your driving career has also taken off as more than a third of your career wins (20 of 58) have been in 2021. What changed there? I would have to go back to Bruce again. He told me 'you can drive, you just have to do it more.' Now every time he can't drive, he'll tell me I'm driving and push me more and more to do it. The funny thing is, when I was younger I always wanted to drive but I never got the opportunity to drive any decent horses. Then I had that terrible year training. Now I'm finally able to drive some decent horses because I have some decent horses. It is kind of weird how it worked out.  ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter How big of a thrill was it to get your first win as a driver at The Meadowlands on December 3 with Feeling Cam Lucky? It was unbelievable because I raced two of my own and they didn't race that well. I had that catch drive from post 9 with the longest shot on the board. [Paul] Fusco told me that if this horse is three-quarters of the horse he is supposed to be he can easily beat these things. I asked him what he wanted me to do and he said 'I'm not telling you anything. You do what you want.' I talked to Vinny Ginsburg because he had driven him before. He told me the horse could really leave but the problem is once you leave with him you better hope you get the front because there is no grabbing him up. I couldn't believe it, the favorite let me go and decided to follow me. I was able to grab him up just enough and get him home. It was pretty cool.  Was that your first win as a trainer or driver outside of New England? I believe so. I raced at The Meadowlands, Yonkers and Freehold, but no wins, just a few seconds. How long is the drive down from Maine to The Meadowlands? Did the win make the drive worthwhile? It is about six hours and it sure did. I'm going down again this week [Dec. 10]. I thought my mare Go Sandy Go raced decent. She had a bad position. I put her back in and Fusco said he was going to put his back in the same class, so I said why not. Racing has kind of winded down up here [Maine]. We are supposed to race a couple more weeks but I shut down a few horses so I don't have too many racing. The trip was pretty tiring. We left Friday morning, we raced and then drove right back because we had five in the next morning at Cumberland. We got to the barn, fed breakfast and loaded up to head to the track. I actually won two races driving there on Saturday, so it was all worth it. Tiring but worth it. [Editor's Note: Go Sandy Go won with Merrill driving on Dec. 10.] Do you see yourself giving up the amateur driving status or continuing on that circuit? I think I'm going to continue for now. I always say I'm not really good enough to drive in the regular races. For now I'll stay in the amateurs.  As a Maine native, what has the addition of Cumberland to the circuit meant for you and your fellow horsemen? It's been big. It just gave us an opportunity to race. We were in trouble when Scarborough closed. [Cumberland] added a bunch of dates and I don't think they've cancelled a day even with bad weather. The purse money has been decent and it has been a huge help. Can a person survive as a trainer or driver now in Maine without having a side gig? If you do well and you are smart with your money, I think you can. Their game plan is to only shut down a couple of months a year so it is doable. What are your career aspirations? Do you see yourself venturing down to New York and New Jersey more in the future? Ideally I would like to, even if it is only a few months a year, maybe race in New Jersey and get some better horses. That way when I come back in the summer time I can race at Plainridge. Their purses have gone up tremendously. My main goal would be to race Massachusetts and New Jersey.  What was your best moment in harness racing? I had a mare [Sarah's Lilly] win the Invitational at Freyburg Fair and she set the track record this year in I think 1:53 3/5. That mare was pretty cool. She won the Open at Plainridge for me, too.  Which is the best horse you've ever trained? Probably Sarah's Lilly, but I had another horse that got away from me named Betterlatethnnever. We had claimed him for $15,000 and he won in 1:52 2/5 at Plainridge. I put him back in for $20,000 and they claimed him right back, so I didn't have him for long.  He made a lot of money for Jimmy Nickerson. If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be? I think that harness racing in general is very cutthroat. I think if more people worked together to help each other out, the sport would do better. We also need to give younger people more opportunities, because that is what is going to keep the sport going. How do you view the future of harness racing? I really think it will take more and more money to compete. You are going to have to have good owners that pay you well for good horses. They are only getting better and faster. If you weren't involved in harness racing, what would you be doing? Probably working some 9-to-5 job to support my family.  Time for the stretch drive... Best Horse you ever saw: Foiled Again at the Windsor Fair. Best Driver: Bruce Ranger. Lasix -- Yes or No?: Yes. Favorite TV Show?: Yellowstone. Trotters or Pacers?: Definitely pacers.