In the 1940s Neva Burright gained attention as a harness-racing grandmother. But by that time she had been competing in the sport for decades, and she had been around horse tracks from the beginning of her life—quite literally
Burright was born on the infield of a racetrack in 1883, and for the rest of her life she stayed close by. She had a 57-year career in horse racing; even after she stopped competing she worked as a timer and a race official. She did all this while being a mother of seven. “I would raise a baby or two and then go back and race some more,” she told LIFE magazine in 1948, in a story headlined “Queen of Racing.”
The photos by LIFE staff photographer Joe Scherschel show a woman who was truly at home at the track. whether racing horses or hanging out with her family in the stables. LIFE’s 1948 story said that Burright “not only spends 18 hours a day training and driving trotting horses at Chicago’s Maywood Park, but she spends the night in one of the barns, with her husband [who was also a harness racer] in the next stall.”
The crowning moment of Burright’s career was in 1943, when she became the first woman to win on harness racing’s Grand Circuit, with a gelding called Luckyette. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch described the joyous scene after her race victory: “…it has been years since we saw so many hats tossed into the air at a race track, and heard so many feminine screeches of satisfaction as when this pleasant white-haired lady demonstrated her skill and the ability of her honest gelding to such a superb degree.”
Neva competed until 1954, and she died in 1958. In 1994 she was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
Competitive harness driver Neva Burright at age 65, in 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Neva Elizabeth Burright, 65, competed as a harness racer at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Harness driver Neva Burright celebrated her 65th birthday at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Harness racer Neva Elizabeth Burright, 65, walking her horse after a morning workout at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Competitive 65-year-old harness racing driver Neva Burright, photographed at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
.Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Neva Elizabeth Burright, 65, held a lead through the midway point of a race at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
.Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Harness racer Neva Burright, 65, mended socks in her stables at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Neva Elizabeth Burright, 65, spoke with two younger female harness drivers at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Harness racer Neva Burright, 65, at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Harness racing grandmother Neva Burright made French toast for breakfast at the race track, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Harness racing driving Neva Burright, 65, had a whip in hand as she clocked one of her horses at Maywood Park, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Harness driver Neva Burright, 65, at Maywood Park in Chicago, 1948.
Joe Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
