Spotlight: Mark Herschberger

Hailing from Illinois, Mark Herschberger’s love for harness racing began as a young boy at his grandpa’s farm. “My grandpa had a breeding farm. He had 40-50 broodmares at one time, he had a couple studs there,” told Herschberger.

“What really got me into it, my uncle Erv [Miller] needed help in Pennsylvania like seven years ago so I moved out to help him. But I ended up moving back to Illinois, giving up on it. Then I started up in Indiana again and that’s where my driving career kinda took off, was in the fairs there. I progressed into the parimutuels in Hoosier Park.”

One of Herschberger’s most memorable wins was on the fair circuit. “Me and my fiancé, we took care of this filly called Fanfoss in Indiana and we raced her, she had like ten starts, didn’t win, just kind of a bad horse. Me and her shipped her to a fair and we ended up winning. That was probably one of the more special drives, that was in my first hundred starts so that was pretty cool to get her across.”

In August of 2023, Herschberger and his fiancé, Brittany Jessop, made the move to New Jersey. Herschberger joined the ranks of the Freehold Raceway driving colony and began to make a name for himself. People began to take notice of his potential and he started to earn more and more drives.

Freehold Raceway has helped so many young drivers launch their careers, and this was no exception for the midwest transplant. “The people have been so good here, just to talk to, they make you feel so welcomed here,” told Herschberger.

With a few weeks still remaining in 2024, Mark has already more than tripled his earnings and wins from 2023. His success can be attributed to his ambition; he is putting in the work required of a new driver that is trying to break through. Herschberger says, “It’s tough. You need trainers to give you that opportunity. You just gotta show up even if it’s one drive in the 14th race, you just gotta show up. It is tough to get started as a new driver.”

The hard work is paying off, people are starting to recognize Herschberger’s talent. Just last month, under the lights at the Meadowlands, he had the pleasure of driving and winning with Lexus Kody, Ron Burke’s over half-million dollar earner. “That was a big deal for me.”

Herschberger looks forward to continuing to grow his career as a driver and hopes to one day train a small stable with his fiancé. If his stat boost this year is any indicator of success for Herschberger, there should be a bright future in the bike ahead of him.

By Katie Eick, for Freehold Raceway