The life of a top harness driver can be a bit of a roller coaster ride. One year everything seems to be moving smoothly as you win race after race and then, perhaps through no fault of your own, you are sitting on the sidelines as another catch-driver jumps in the bike. Hall of Famer Tim Tetrick began 2024 riding the high of being the regular driver behind 2023 Horse of the Year Confederate as well as divisional winners Soiree Hanover and Geocentric. The 43-year-old finished second in North America in earnings and posted his third-best season in the previous 10 years. There was every reason for Tetrick to be optimistic for similar success since both of his Dan Patch divisional winners were just 2-year-olds, and he had been the regular driver on promising 3-year-old Oh Well among others. But as the dust settles on 2024, Tetrick's statistics are somewhat surprising: - Lowest # of starts since 2003 - Lowest earnings since 2006 when he moved to the East Coast - Fewest wins since 2015 "It is just the way things worked out. A lot of the races I didn't go to because I didn't have a drive. It wasn't because I wasn't saying no all the time. Chester also had less days, and some of my main clients either didn't have horses or they got rid of them," said Tetrick, who expected to get more work for some of the top barns in the country which elected to go in another direction. "It is mainly about losing clientele. You start the year out thinking you are going to have certain horses and then that client fires you. It is hard to get over that. It would be like Ronnie Burke telling Yannick [Gingras] that he isn't going to drive any of his horses. Or [Nancy] Takter saying that to Yannick." Ironically, Tetrick also benefitted from other drivers getting the ax during the year. He picked up Sylvia Hanover for a couple of starts and got a win in the $100,000 Clara Barton and a fifth-place check in the Lady Liberty. Highland Kismet was another late addition to Tetrick's docket, and he finished fourth with the driver in the bike in the Breeders Crown 3-year-old colt and gelding trot. Clearly still in his prime, the only logic to Tetrick's sharp year-over-year decline is that it is more like an anomaly then a trend, but the size and stakes power from a few barns with regular drivers is certainly playing a role. When you are not the main driver for outfits with 100-plus horses in the barn, it becomes more difficult to maintain a certain level of earnings. A case can also be made that today's Grand Circuit driving colony is deeper than ever, but Tetrick didn't necessarily agree that was true. "I can't say that Dexter [Dunn] isn't great, but I can't say that Brian Sears wasn't great either," said Tetrick, who is perhaps hurt today by a more patient style of driving that puts an emphasis on making sure horses have something left for the entire season. "We can't think about that as drivers. We just have to go out and win every time. I was raised differently to make sure the right column is bigger than the left column. You may only have three wins, but you made $400,000 with the horse. "I don't know when winning qualifiers became so important." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter While at one time working out the right trip played a huge role in racing, Tetrick admits that it is very much about horsepower now. "You are not beating the best horses today unless something is wrong. Second-over is a bad spot these days. You can't even trip-out. You are better off sitting fourth on the rail and saving ground," said Tetrick. Tetrick currently sits ninth on the earnings list for 2024, six slots below a man who has climbed to the top of the roller coaster. Jason Bartlett is having a career year, having driven horses to well over $12 million in earnings. The Yonkers Raceway regular, who has been moonlighting at the Meadowlands, is setting a new career-best in earnings every time he goes out to the track through the end of the year. "I was excited about a few horses that I had last year that were coming to be 3-year-olds, like Sir Pinocchio. I know he was off everyone else's radar, but I knew if he came back as good as I thought we would have a really good year with him," said Bartlett about his 2024 success. "There were a lot of surprises. I hooked onto Tarrific and Coaches Corner just got better and better throughout the year." Like Tetrick, Bartlett is not immune from a downturn in earnings. His numbers took a hit when one of his main accounts left the scene in 2020, and that downturn lasted into the following year before he caught fire again to reclaim his spot as the leading driver at Yonkers. Over the last three years, horses he's driven have eclipsed the $10 million mark each time. "When you lose a hundred horses that you normally drive at your track, you are going to take a hit. But it has happened before," said Bartlett, remembering his bad fortune in 2020. "I'm a person that isn't scared to work; I was brought up that way. My work ethic has pushed me since I was a kid, in sports or driving horses. That is something that the trainers and owners see. "I was also driving for [Ron] Burke and I lost all of those drives. I've come to learn that you have to have relationships with as many people as you possibly can because you never know what is going to happen. You might piss someone off someday by picking off a horse. That is why I try to not say no to anybody and race as many tracks as I possibly can during the summer." The 43-year-old Bartlett might be on top of the world right now, but he knows things can change in a hurry and is simply trying to stay in the moment. "When you get high you start to think you are invincible, and then you have a bad night and realize how fast it can go down," said Bartlett. "I've always thought that I can't celebrate too much when I'm on a high because it can come crashing down in a second, whether it is losing drives or getting hurt or whatever. So I try to stay as level-headed as I can, and that is saying something for me." Meanwhile, for Tetrick, he still loves driving and wants to compete at the top levels of the Grand Circuit, but he also understands the reality of the sport. Should it all come to an end at some point, he isn't as close-minded about it as he was a decade ago. "I've had a great career. If I don't race on the Grand Circuit anymore, it really doesn't bother me. My daughter is 13 now and I've worked my ass off for the last 15 to 18 years now, but I still love driving horses," said Tetrick. "I heard George Brennan say many years ago, 'I'm done traveling.' I said 'how can you be done traveling? That is where all of the good horses are.' He told me, 'You'll see one day.' He was right. The road war is hard on guys. You travel a lot. It is fun to travel when you get the good ones, but nobody wants to do it and finish eighth all the time. "It happens to everyone sooner or later; it is just a matter of time," said Tetrick about driving more locally rather than on the Grand Circuit. "Do I still think I can drive a horse as good as anybody, absolutely, but I always say you have to have something between the shafts." For now Tetrick and Bartlett aren't going anywhere. Both expect to continue a similar schedule in 2025 with a mix of overnight and Grand Circuit drives. Tetrick last drove at the Meadowlands on December 14 and plans to stay local at Dover Downs during January and February unless a specific horse or opportunity warrants a trip north for the southern New Jersey resident. He specifically mentioned recent Preferred Handicap winner Spring Inhis Step as a potential lure to the Meadowlands. That Australian import bested the speedy Ruthless Hanover on December 14 with Tetrick driving for trainer Jeff Cullipher. Bartlett finished out the meet at Yonkers on December 20 and will continue to show up at the Meadowlands on the weekends. Once Pocono Downs opens again he'll make cameos there as well. Will 2025 bring another career year for Bartlett? Will Tetrick rebound and return to his regular spot in the top three in earnings? Both seem like possible scenarios, but of course there is the unknown in play. "You're only as good as your last drive. People want results and always seem to go with the guy who is hot at the time. You have to have a little luck," concluded Bartlett.