‘She Will Represent the USA Well’
Chrissy Johnson Adds International Race to List of Many Ways She’s Involved in Equine Industry
By Wes Mayberry
In the equine industry, it may be hard to find someone as multifaceted as Christina “Chrissy” Johnson.
“I’ve done so many things in my life because of harness racing,” she says. “I have soaked up and taken in and tried to master every little part of it that I possibly can.”
That’s no exaggeration. Though her initial dream was to be a Thoroughbred jockey, she fell in love with harness racing once she was introduced to it and has been everything from a driver, trainer, and outrider to a blacksmith, transporter, and equine dentist and dental educator. This year, she’ll add one more role to that list — international competitor.
Representing America
When it comes to selecting an American representative for the Bernie Kelly International Ladies Race, Hall of Fame announcer Roger Huston focuses on one overarching criterion.
“Since the formation of the Bernie Kelly International Ladies Race, I have tried to select someone who I think can compete with her European counterparts and represent the United States well at the international level,” he says.
Initiated in 2024, the Bernie Kelly International Ladies Race is part of the annual Vincent Delaney Memorial Festival. Jazmin Short and Lauren Harmon have represented the Stars and Stripes well in the race the past two years with matching runner-up finishes. Early in 2026, Huston joined Dein Spriggs, of the United States Harness Drivers Club, and Steve Oldford, of the Great Lakes Amateur Drivers Association (GLADA), to determine a worthy driver to compete for the U.S. in this year’s race. Johnson was front of mind.
“I first became aware of Chrissy when she won the Spring Haven Ladies Race at Delaware three years ago. It was very evident that she was quite a driver in that race, and I also got to see her drive in other races on the Ohio fair circuit,” Huston says. “I contacted Dein Spriggs and Steve Oldford, who have driven with her in a number of races in the past, and the final decision to pick Chrissy was a joint decision by the three of us. We know that she will represent the USA well.”
When Huston contacted her to tell her the good news, Johnson was elated. Her other life responsibilities would have to be put on hold to accommodate the trip overseas, but this was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. This year’s Bernie Kelly International Ladies Race will take place Aug. 8 during the Vincent Delaney Memorial Festival at Tir Prince Raceway in Wales. The facility is lauded as the only all-weather half-mile floodlit track in the United Kingdom or Ireland, and Johnson is looking forward to driving in her first race outside of the U.S. and Canada.
“This is a really big deal to me. I’m really excited about meeting all the lady drivers from all the different countries and seeing how the racetrack and driving styles over there differ from here (in the U.S.),” she says. “When I first learned about that race, I reached out to Roger and asked him what you have to do to be considered for that opportunity, and he said that you have to be the best lady driver. I don’t know if I’m the best, but I did work really hard, and I pounded the pavement putting a lot of miles on my vehicle to get to every race I could possibly be in so that when it came time for him to make a decision, I would be one of the ones he would think of.”
While her conversations with Short and Harmon about their experiences in this race have been sparse, Johnson discovered one particularly attractive aspect of the trip through Harmon’s social media.
“I’m really looking forward to jogging a horse on the beach,” she says. “I got to live vicariously through Lauren on Snapchat last year because she posted everything she did, and that’s where I saw the jogging on the beach.”
Early Years
Now 40 years old and living in East Sparta, Ohio, Johnson had a record of 45-45-37 and earnings of just over $175,000 in 258 career driving starts as of mid-April to go along with 57 victories and more than $235,000 in earnings as a trainer. Despite the success she’s had, harness racing wasn’t top of mind during her early years.
Johnson was born in Texas and moved to Michigan when she was 5 years old. At that time, her top goal was to become a jockey. She later jockeyed Quarter Horses before working her first job in harness racing as a groom for Leon Cable and then for Tommy Harmer. Under Harmer, she grew to love working with Standardbreds and was particularly impressed by his operation.
“Tommy always had a beautiful, clean, well-kept stable, and he was very detailed and organized. He was very specific on how each horse was handled and made sure that each horse was treated as an individual because they’re all different with different needs,” she says. “I wanted to be a jockey, but there was just something about harness racing. It was so different, and I loved how much more hands-on you could be with the horses. I’ve jockeyed in Thoroughbred racing, and the camaraderie of the horsemen is so different from the Thoroughbreds to the Standardbreds, and I just fell in love with harness racing.”
Johnson began her driving career in 2008 and made her first purse start in 2010. Her first win came at Northville Downs on Oct. 15, 2010, with Crystal Chris. She remembers that one well thanks in part to a pre-race slight from John Kina, the trainer of the betting favorite in the race, Crown Heights.
“I remember going into the paddock and John Kina walking up to me and saying, ‘Chrissy, you might have the horsepower, but you are only going to be second today,’” she says. “I was so disheartened.”
Crystal Chris, the 10-1 third choice, ended up edging Crown Heights by half a length for the win. Johnson went on to close out her 2010 season with back-to-back victories with Crystal Chris at Northville and has been the sole owner of the now 22-year-old mare since 2018. The daughter of Dragon Again out of Taylor Q retired following her 7-year-old season in 2011, finishing with 35 victories and over $411,000 in earnings.
“Ned Simmons ended up giving her to me, and she is now a broodmare in my field,” Johnson says. “She doesn’t owe me anything. She gets to stand out in the field and live her best life.”
Driven to Succeed
Since getting her first win, Johnson has gone on to become one of the top female drivers in harness racing. She credits much of her improvement as a driver to her increased patience on the track. After telling her that she “made coffee nervous,” fellow driver Nick Clegg advised Johnson to simply relax, have fun, and be patient.
“I’ve learned that patience is my friend. If you’re patient, you get to see how the race unfolds, how the other drivers are making mistakes, and how other horses are moving in the race,” she says. “When it comes to competition, I am not at all patient, so if I do something stupid, it’s because my patience ran out. But when I’m patient, nine times out of 10, something opens up.”
Along with learning patience, Johnson has found that she really enjoys the puzzle-like aspects of harness racing.
“I’m really good at puzzles, and when you get a horse, it’s like a puzzle you have to put together. You have to figure out the horse’s gait and what makes them happy and where they like to be placed in a race,” she says. “There are so many moving parts with each harness horse, and I love being able to get one fresh and break it all down and figure out what piece goes where and putting it all together and seeing the horse succeed.”
However, as a female, opportunities to drive have been less plentiful for Johnson than her male counterparts over the years.
“Being a female driver, it’s really hard to get people to throw you on their horses because a lot of people worry that because some of those horses are so strong, we might not be able to handle them,” she says. “It’s a blessing and a curse. I’m grateful that people think of our safety as well as that of the horses, but sometimes it sucks that we don’t get more of an opportunity.”
Johnson appreciates every opportunity she gets to be out on the track and has driven in the GLADA from the start.
“When Steve Oldford started the Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association, I was one of the few drivers that participated in it to help move it forward,” she says. “I’m really grateful that Steve asked me to be a part of that because it’s been a great experience. I’ve gotten to go to a lot of different tracks with a lot of different drivers and have gotten to compete in the U.S. vs. Sweden competitions.”
She is also a regular in the Spring Haven Farm Ladies Driving Series, which gives female drivers an opportunity to be in the spotlight.
“That is an all-or-nothing, survival-of-the-fittest kind of race because all of us girls are out there to be the first one to hit the wire. We’re all friends standing on the sidelines, but when we get on the bikes and go behind the gate, it gets a little bit raunchy out there,” Johnson says. “All of us girls want to make a name for ourselves and be the top dog, so it’s tough. We are competitive, and we all feel like we have a lot to prove because we are women.”
In the Ladies Driving Series, Johnson competes against the likes of Harmon, Leslie Joyce, Jennifer Main, Bobbie Jo Brewer, and Mary Birkhold. She placed third in the points standings last year after winning the final and the overall points championship in 2024. She gets emotional thinking about all the support she received to make that achievement a reality.
“The people that stuck with me and kept putting me up on drive after drive and giving me all those chances were friends that I grew up with in the business who saw me start from nothing and build myself up to where I am now. Regardless of what I was driving or how the chips fell, they just kept putting me down, and the points just kept stacking up,” she says. “I couldn’t have accomplished what I did that year if not for the people that were willing to put horses in the box so I could make it to Delaware. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it.”
Two days after driving Nothingbutadreamer to win the GLADA race at Delaware that year, Johnson returned to guide Black Tilly to victory in the final of the Spring Haven Farm Ladies Driving Series. Black Tilly was bred by Harmon’s father and stepmother, Donald and Krista.
“We came four wide around the last turn to win by half a length,” Johnson says. “When I hit the wire, I was in tears.”
Johnson’s other career highlights include winning the Tim Fouts Memorial Standardbred Driving Championship at Delaware in 2022 and the Pace for the Cure at Northfield Park in 2023 and 2024.
Multitalented
Johnson drove at nine different Ohio county fairs last year and points to Upper Sandusky and Delaware as her favorite tracks. But her involvement with Standardbreds extends far beyond that of a driver and trainer.
“I’m a full-time equine dentist, and I travel the country serving the harness racing community as well as a lot of riding horses,” she says. “I’m also an outrider at Shenandoah Downs and sometimes at Northfield and was a blacksmith at Northfield for a long time.”
Johnson was first introduced to equine dentistry through a graduate of the Virginia-based American School of Equine Dentistry. She had been showing Arabian horses for him and began assisting him in floating horses — a process of filing sharp and uneven surfaces on their teeth to reduce discomfort, prevent mouth injuries, and improve chewing efficiency. Once she was on her own in Ohio, she noticed a gap in the market that she could fill. At the urging of friends and colleagues, she followed her mentor’s path of attending the American School of Equine Dentistry and obtaining certification as an equine dentist. She founded Whiskey River Equine Dentistry after graduation and has been extremely busy ever since.
“When I got home from school, I had so many horses booked, and I have been working seven days a week year-round, including holidays, since the day I graduated,” she says. “I bought a truck and have all my dental tools on the truck, and when someone calls me, I go to their farm and work on their horses. I work everywhere — if you need me, I’m there.”
She also serves as an instructor at the American School of Equine Dentistry.
“The day I graduated, I also got hired to be an instructor at the school, so I’ve been instructing in Virginia going on six or seven years now,” she says.
Though she works almost nonstop, she wouldn’t have it any other way, as she loves the flexibility and variety of what she does.
“I create my own schedule so I can work when I want and how I want, which has been a huge blessing,” Johnson says. “I’m very busy, but I love to work and love my job. I get to see harness racing people every day as well as all my barrel racing people because I also train barrel horses and do breakaway roping at rodeos.”
Johnson has done dental work on several Little Brown Jug and Breeders Crown entrants and is the only dentist thus far to have worked on 2025 Ohio Horse of the Year and Ohio Triple Crown winner Big Ranger. She also served as an equine dentistry guest speaker at the 2025 Equine Affaire expo in Ohio.
Making Her Mark
Harness racing has historically been a male-dominated sport, but the presence of women continues to grow. Johnson and many others in key roles — drivers, trainers, owners, breeders, media members, and more — have undoubtedly made an impact as trailblazers and role models for other women to follow.
As a multitalented horsewoman herself, Johnson has certainly made her mark on the industry. This past March, she was one of 20 women selected to compete in one of two races featuring all-female driver fields as part of an International Women’s Day celebration at the Meadowlands. Driving Galante A, Johnson placed third behind Lauren Tritton and Marie Auger in one of the 10-woman fields. As events like these continue to grow in scale and frequency, Johnson hopes the increased exposure will showcase the opportunities that exist for women in the sport. Just as she did all those years ago, she wants other women to take a leap of faith and give harness racing a try.
“Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there because when you do, you’d be surprised how many people will try to open doors for you. If people see you out there doing good things, they’re going to want to be part of it with you,” she says of her advice to other women. “So, don’t be afraid to step in the limelight and grab the sport by the horns and go for it.”
This story appeared in the May 2026 issue of The Buckeye Harness Horseman magazine.