Bruce Nickells (born July 5, 1928) is an American

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

driver and trainer. Nickells was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame on July 4, 2016.

Biography

Nickells, who grew up in

Princeton, Illinois Princeton is a city in and the county seat of Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,832 at the 2020 census. Princeton is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. Due to its location where Interstate 80 meets the ...

,Bruce Nickells page at Harness racing Museum & Hall of Fame
/ref> began working with harness racing horses as a groom when he was 13 years old. Eight years later, his first start as a harness racing driver, in 1949, when he was 21 years old, was driving a horse named Great Dune at

Aurora Downs History Aurora Downs was a horse racing facility in Aurora, Illinois, that hosted thoroughbred racing and harness racing events as early as 1891. The Downs was originally a half-mile track named Aurora Driving Park, located north of Illinois Avenu ...

.Nickells overwhelmed by Hall of Fame honor by Dave Briggs
/ref> Nickells worked two years as a second trainer for

Del Cameron Adelbert "Del" Cameron (1920-1979) was an American harness racing driver. Cameron was voted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1974. Cameron was born in Harvard, Massachusetts. Cameron along with his wife and two sons moved to Pinehurst, N ...

before opening his own stable in 1953. Nickells became known as a specialist in training young

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

as Pacers and is considered one of the best trainers of fillies in harness racing history. In 1964, Nickells drove Combat Time to victory in the second division of the Little Brown Jug at the County Fairgrounds in

Delaware, Ohio Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County, Ohio, United States. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio m ...

before finishing second in the third and final division to Jug winner Vicar Hanover. At the 1972 Little Brown Jug, Nickells drove Fast Clip to a second place finish, one and one fourth lengths behind the winner

Strike Out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...

. Strike Out, who had been trained by Nickells for two months the previous winter, won the Jug with a time of 1:56.3 which set a world record for a three-year-old pacer on a half mile track. He also won the 1989 Hambletonian Oaks with Park Avenue Kathy,'Joe' takes Hambletonian won on points
/ref> and drove six horses to

Breeders Crown The Breeders Crown is an annual series of Harness races in the United States and Canada covering each of the sport's twelve traditional categories of age, gait and gender. The series was initiated by the Hambletonian Society, promoters of the Ham ...

championships. In 1990, Nickells along with

Gene Riegle Grant E. "Gene" Riegle (June 3, 1928 – October 17, 2011) was an American harness racing driver and trainer. He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1992. Riegle started his harness racing career in 1950. His father, Roy Riegle, ...

, were awarded the Glen Garnsey Trophy as the U.S. Trainer of the Year. Although the NTRA did not track statistics early in Nickells' career, he earned at least $6 million in prize money as a driver and more than $7 million as a trainer.Bruce Nickells selected for Hall of Fame induction
/ref>

Family

Nickells was a resident of

Lighthouse Point, Florida Lighthouse Point is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale located in Broward County, Florida, United States. The suburb was named for the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse, which is located in nearby Hillsboro Beach. As of the 2020 census, the population of Light ...

during his racing career. Nickells was married for over 50 years to his wife Joanne, who died in 2007. They had two children, a son named Sep and a daughter named Brooke.

Brooke Nickells Brooke may refer to: People * Brooke (given name) * Brooke (surname) * Brooke baronets, families of baronets with the surname Brooke Places * Brooke, Norfolk, England * Brooke, Rutland, England * Brooke, Virginia, US * Brooke's Point, Palawan ...

, who is also a harness training trainer and driver, almost became the first woman to drive a horse in the

Hambletonian Stakes The Hambletonian Stakes is a major American harness race for three-year-old trotting horses, named in honor of Hambletonian 10, a foundation sire of the Standardbred horse breed, also known as the "Father of the American Trotter." The first ...

in 2001. The owners of her horse, Lavecster, however, who Brooke had driven to five wins, chose to have Mike Lachance drive the horse instead. Bruce had a brother, Wayne, who also drove and trained harness horses. Wayne died in 2009.Wayne Nickells, 72, dies in Lexington
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickells, Bruce 1928 births Living people American harness racers Dan Patch Award winners Sportspeople from Illinois People from Princeton, Illinois Sportspeople from Anderson, Indiana People from Lighthouse Point, Florida United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees