Jack Pelling has discovered his calling

Second-year driver Jack Pelling is happy that people are looking at him as Jack, and not Brett Pelling’s son.

“I’m amazed at the amount of support that I’ve had,” Pelling said. “People coming up to me and thinking I look like I’ve got some talent. That’s what’s most important to me. I don’t want to be looked at as the person that was just bred into the bike type of thing.”

He is equally grateful that while Brett will offer sage advice when approached, the accomplished veteran trainer is willing to let Jack be Jack.

“I’ve been really lucky just how much he’s let me go along,” Pelling said. “He’s the type where he knows that I’ll learn the most on my own. We don’t try to nitpick every little thing and talk about every little mistake, it’s not worth it.

Whatever Brett is or isn’t telling Jack, it seems to be working pretty well. In his rookie campaign last year Pelling won six races while hitting the board 27 times for $48,690 in 90 starts. This season, in 205 starts predominantly at Freehold, Pelling has 27 wins, 24 places and 27 shows good for $147,413. He is fifth in wins at Freehold.

Asked if he’s happy with the season so far, the 26-year-old said, “Absolutely. It’s much, much better than I thought it would be. I was just hoping to get a couple drives at Freehold and get my ‘A’ license, and that happened so I’ve been very happy.”

His journey into driving is not your average sulky story. Despite growing up the son of a famous trainer, the exposure to horses disappeared for 11 years when New Zealand native Brett retired from training in the mid-2000s and moved the family to Australia in 2006. After enjoying success as a trainer in North America, which included multiple training titles at The Meadowlands and a Horse of the Year in 2005 with Rocknroll Hanover, Brett did various other jobs Down Under and only followed harness racing from afar.

“I had no involvement with the horses at all,” said Jack, who was born in Freehold. “I tell people all the time — and it sounds like an exaggeration but it’s not — that when I was 20 years old, I didn’t know the difference between a trotter and a pacer. That’s no joke. I almost feel silly saying that. But right at the age I would have started to get involved in the industry, Brett retired.

“We knew he was involved in horse racing but if you asked me when I was 19 or 20 what my dad did as a job I would say ‘Well, he trained horses,’ but I didn’t know too much about it. All I knew about a horse was (it’s spelled) H-O-R-S-E.”

After graduating high school, Pelling was trying to get a foothold on some type of career. While working a part-time job and living just down the road from Brett with some buddies, his dad called to see if Jack would be interested in fulltime work with trainer Ross Croghan in the U.S. Despite his lack of equestrian knowledge, Pelling jumped at the offer.

“I just went for it,” he said. “I missed America, it definitely had a place in my heart being born here and living here as a little kid. I just wanted something different. I was about to be 21 and not really doing too much. I just thought ‘Let’s get on with it.’ A fulltime job, switching countries, it will be fun and interesting. Just go for it.”

Unlike so many in the business, who get hooked the minute they’re in a stable, Pelling had to warm to it.

“If I’m being really honest, I never really thought of harness racing as a fulltime career until a couple years ago,” he said. “It definitely wasn’t the type of thing where I’d say to somebody ‘Oh when I started with the horses on the first day I was hooked.’ It wasn’t like that.”

Pelling groomed for Croghan until his dad came out of retirement and returned to the States in 2017. Jack then went to work for him.

“I was half grooming, half riding for my dad as he was building up the stable,” Pelling said, “and I’ve been with him ever since.”

Jack made another jaunt back to Australia three years ago. It was during his last trek there that he recalled a chat with Brett and realized that harness racing could be his calling.

Risking a hernia can do that to a guy.

“I started working fulltime in construction over there,” Pelling said. “And then I realized ‘Wait a minute, these guys are all working really hard every day’ and I didn’t think that was me.

“My dad had a conversation with me, that he thought I had a bit of talent. He saw me training and thought I had a good set of hands. I just kind of thought about it one day and thought I better stick with the horses; I think I like that kind of work. And within this industry I think the driving appeals to me the most, just being young and kind of athletic. It just seemed to be the way for me.”

All it took was a subtle comment from Brett, and Jack returned to America just days before the COVID-19 crisis hit.

“My dad’s not the type of guy to gloat and stuff,” Jack said. “He doesn’t call me up every day and tell me I’m the next John Campbell. He just sort of said he thought I could do it and that was enough for me.”

As for his choice of driving over training, Jack said, “I love winning. I feel like I’m naturally competitive. All the training and everything around it is all building up for the race and for the driving. I like being in the big moment.”

Most of his moments so far have been with horses provided by his dad and John Urbanski, who currently leads all trainers in victories at Freehold this year. Jack has been helping out Jenn and Joe Bongiorno at the JB Racing Stable in recent weeks, and Jenn put him behind a winning horse last Saturday at Freehold.

As his career progresses, Jack has one thing in mind.

“A big thing I’ve been doing lately is just trying to keep Brett happy and keep Brett looking at me the right way,” Pelling said. “I know in a couple of years he’ll be the one to really give me the boost into trying to be in those bigger events.”

What happens remains to be seen, but one thing is certain — after years of floating from one thing to another, Pelling has discovered his calling.

“I had just been drifting around before this,” he said. “I’m really happy I found this. I’m full steam ahead. I’ve never felt this way about something before.”

And he’s doing it as Jack, not Brett’s son.