It’s every little girl’s dream to own a horse of her own. For amateur harness racing champion Kiara Morgan, it’s not just a dream, it’s reality.
Growing up, Morgan was always surrounded by horses because her dad, Virgil Morgan, is an award-winning harness racing trainer voted into the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2021. Morgan has been riding horses since she was about 4 years old, and when she got a little older, she began showing quarter horses.
Despite her dad’s incredible success as a trainer, Morgan didn’t get into harness racing until after she graduated from Grove City High School in 2018.
Harness racing is a equestrian sport in which the jockey, or driver, rides in a two-wheeled cart and is pulled around the track by the horse.
“(Horses) were a huge part of my life,” says Morgan. “Once I graduated, I kind of put that aside for a little bit. I really started just missing the horses in general, so, I asked my dad if I could just start working for him.”
Virgil was reluctant at first, but eventually gave in and Morgan began working at the farm – a massive training center in Asheville which boards more than 60 horses – alongside her older brother, Tre.
“I started in December (of 2018),” says Morgan. “Every horse, every day, needs to jog a certain amount of time on the jog track, so I would just start out with that. And then gradually, he would add me into what we call the training sets.”
By spring 2019, Morgan entered her first circuit and kicked off a successful career.
“I really got the hang of it,” she says. “It kind of just came easily to me, which I credit to a lot of riding and working with horses my whole life. Everything is very similar but I’m still learning the differences.”
When many people think of horse racing, they may not think of harness racing. It’s certainly a conversation starter.
“A lot of people might get it mixed up with thoroughbred racing, that would be like the Kentucky Derby,” Morgan says. “So (harness racing) uses a cart, the driver actually races in a lighter bike, and sits in the bike behind the horse.”
There are a lot of rewarding aspects of harness racing, from the thrill of the race to the unique bond formed with each horse. For Morgan, the most exciting part is figuring out what works from one horse to the next.
“You’re never going to sit behind one horse that’s the exact same as another one,” she says. “Every course that you get behind it, they have huge differences. Every horse in itself has its own personality, has its own way of going. I really enjoy trying to figure one out and figure out what’s going to help them be successful.”
In addition to amateur racing, Morgan has moved into ownership ranks and has claimed horses at Eldorado Scioto Downs, central Ohio’s harness racing track since 1959.
“Between me and my brother and my dad, we have three to four horses right now, but that can always change when claiming horses,” says Morgan. “Come this summer, we’ll probably have five to six horses, just the three of us racing per week. That will keep me pretty busy. And then I have a few of my own that will be racing.”
Driver of Success
Growing up in Grove City means being just a trot, skip and a jump away from Scioto Downs. Getting to race on that track means a lot to Morgan.
“All of my wins at Scioto Downs were pretty cool, just because I grew up watching
the races there,” she says. “It’s one of my favorite places to be. I live within 10 minutes from there and I’m always there.”
In her 2019 season, Morgan won 14 of the 35 races she started, placing second in the Ohio ladies championship that year.
“My most memorable win, or one of them, would be when I went down to Lexington, Kentucky,” she says. “There’s a track there they call the Red Mile and I went one week and I won. And then I went back the following week, (the meet continued), and I won the next amateur race.”
Live harness racing started up again at Scioto Downs May 4, and Morgan has big plans for her future in harness racing.
“Going into the future, I would like to definitely own and train horses of my own,” she says. “The driving and the amateur (racing), that’s always fun and I think it gives a person a lot of experience just being on the track. From a trainer standpoint, I think there’s a lot of stuff that I can use to my advantage and learn just being in a race, sitting behind the horses in the race, and obviously it’s a lot of fun.”
Sarah Robinson is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at srobinson@cityscenemediagroup.com.
