Harness racings top driver among seven inducted into Canada Sports Hall of Fame

TORONTO - It's three and counting for John Campbell.
The native of Ailsa Craig, Ont., was among seven inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Harness racing's all-time leading money winner was enshrined in the athlete's category with former NHL star Mark Messier, women's hockey pioneer Angela James, CFL and NFL quarterback Warren Moon and world champion kayaker Caroline Brunet.
Hugh Campbell, Moon's former coach with the Edmonton Eskimos and Houston Oilers, as well as longtime basketball coach Ken Shields were inducted as builders.
Pretty heady company, indeed.
"It's very humbling, especially with the class I'm going in with when you see their accomplishments," Campbell said. "Just to be grouped with some people like that is humbling and certainly an honour.
"We've had only five others from harness racing go in so it's very special and something I'm very proud of. It's a Sports Hall of Fame, it's all of Canada. It doesn't get much better than this."
And that's saying a lot, considering it's the third Hall of Fame that Campbell, 54, has been named to.
In 1990, he became the youngest driver ever elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, doing so at age 35. And he's also a member of the Canadian Harness Hall of Fame.
So what's the key to Campbell's success? Being adaptable.
"People ask me what my style is but I like to think I don't have a style because I like to fit the horse's style," he said. "There's no sense going against the grain and trying to fit a horse into your style if it's not going to work.
"You have to be open-minded when you're dealing with horses because they're exactly like athletes. Some have that winning desire, the will to compete. Others don't. Some can deal with pain, others can't. Some circumstances in a race change and some horses will just put their head down and overcome it while others will just throw in the towel and say, 'This isn't for me tonight.'
"As a driver you have to know what makes that horse tick and what you can do to get the best out of them."
Campbell comes by his harness-racing prowess honestly. A third-generation horseman, he has captured nearly every North American stakes event, including six Hambletonian titles, three Little Brown Jugs, four Canadian Pacing Derbies, six North America Cups, the Canadian Trotting Classic, two World Trotting Derbies, eight Messenger Stakes and Sweden's Elitlopp.
He's also won a stunning 44 Breeders Crown events and in 2000 received the Meritorious Service Medal from then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.
"I'd like to say it's the only thing I know how to do," Campbell said with a chuckle. "It's something I grew up with.
"I was crazy about horses from the time I could walk so I got to do something I love for a living and happened to have some success at it. When I go to work, its not like work. I was doing what I wanted, to be around the horses and compete."
And Campbell, who was honoured last month at Mohawk Raceway for his many accomplishments, still feels the same way today.
"I still enjoy it, I still love driving in the major stakes races," he said. "You have to put in a certain amount of time and other races to get into a position where people still want you.
"It's always fresh, it doesn't get dull and that's what keeps me going, keeps me enthused and keeps me liking my job."
But it's an occupation with serious hazards.
In 2006 during a Breeders Crown elimination race at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack, Campbell was involved in a horrific accident. He was thrown from the sulky when his horse, Scootin Delight, hit another that had fallen in front of them.
Campbell suffered a serious leg injury while Scootin Delight was humanely put down.
"It can be dangerous, unfortunately," Campbell said. "It's something you're aware of from a young age.
"That's why when we go out on the track, safety is our No. 1 concern even though we're trying to win. Sometimes, though, it's unavoidable. If you fall out of that sulky, we're going between 30 and 35 miles an hour, you're going to get hurt."
Campbell returned to racing in April, 2007 and barely skipped a beat, finishing the year with 166 wins and more than $10 million in earnings, leaving him sixth overall in North America.
But Campbell, who suffered a bad arm injury as a result of another crash, says getting back into the sulky after a horrific accident is more than just a matter of mind over matter.
"The physical part, the therapy I went through for both my arm and leg, was intense and I still do therapy on both today so they work the way I want them to," he said. "For a period of time, the therapy is a full-time job and I can't stress that enough to anybody who has some kind of injury.
"The therapy you put into it, that's what you're going to get out of it."
Campbell doesn't have a specific timeline regarding how much longer he will race.
"It's something I evaluate at the end of every year," he said. "So long as I'm getting the opportunity to drive in the major stake races and having success in them.
"As long as I'm getting those chances and being successful I'm going to continue, so long as I can remain healthy. That will be another issue."