West Warren’s Jordan Hadley carries on family tradition — love of chariot racing
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley takes his horse-drawn chariot out on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in preparation for racing. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley takes his horse-drawn chariot out on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in preparation for racing. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley poses for a portrait with his chariot on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley brushes his horse Fly before a chariot ride on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, on his ranch.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley carries his chariot toward the horse stable on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley hooks his horses to the race chariot on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley and assistant trainer Tyson Lusk take a horse-drawn chariot out on the ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in preparation for racing. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse run around a muddy track on Jordan Hadley's ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.
Jordan Hadley's horses being prepared for a practice chariot ride on the Hadley ranch takes on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.
Horse run around a muddy track on Jordan Hadley's ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley prepares his horse Fly for a chariot ride on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, on his ranch.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley takes his horse-drawn chariot out on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in preparation for racing. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Jockey Tyson Lusk rinses the mud off his horses after a chariot ride on the Hadley ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley poses for a portrait with his chariot on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley poses for a portrait with his chariot on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley poses for a portrait with his chariot on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley takes his horse-drawn chariot out on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in preparation for racing. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
Horse run around a muddy track on Jordan Hadley's ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley's horse Fly in the stable on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.
Horse trainer and racer Jordan Hadley takes his horse-drawn chariot out on his ranch on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in preparation for racing. Ogden, Utah, is known among chariot racers as a hub for the tight-knit sport.
WEST WARREN — Chariot racing holds its own unique place in the world of horse racing.
“We are the drag racers of horse racing — really fast for a short distance,” said Jordan Hadley, a horse trainer and competitor in the sport who’s based in the West Warren area.
Speeds can reach around 50 mph for the short 440-yard sprints, offering spectators thrilling, fast-paced action. Meantime, the humans guiding the two-horse teams from behind in the carts, or chariots, get a few thrills of their own. “There’s nothing holding you in other than balance,” Hadley said.
But he loves it, and he’s a big advocate for the sport, representing the third generation in his family to be active in chariot racing, an activity focused in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. His grandparents, Blaine Hadley and Jim Surrage, are still big fans of chariot racing to this day. His father, Sherm Hadley, died in 2015 but had also been heavily involved, both as a trainer and competitor.
The death, when Sherm Hadley was just 52, was particularly tragic and adds a poignant twist to his son’s involvement in chariot racing. Sherm Hadley suffered serious injury in 2008 when a bale of hay fell on him as he pushed his then 12-year-old son Garrett from harm’s way. A subsequent stroke further exacerbated things.
“It was tough. We were very close. We were together seven days a week,” Jordan Hadley recalled, saying the turn of events cast a shadow on his future with chariot racing and horses. “There was a little bit of a gray area for a couple years.”
Eventually, though, his love of working with horses, quarter-horse racing and chariot racing won out, and the familial involvement continues, still at the family training facility, Running H Ranch. It’s hard work and can be tough to scrape together an existence, but it’s seemingly imprinted in Hadley’s DNA. It’s in his blood. His mom, Susan Hadley, still helps out at races, as does his brother, Garrett Hadley.
“It can be a hard living. You have the highest of highs, the lowest of lows,” said Jessica Hadley, Jordan’s wife.
’A BIT MORE EXHILARATING'
Horses are the bread and butter of Jordan Hadley’s existence. He trains the animals, chiefly for quarter-horse racing, which is more popular and lucrative than chariot racing. Quarter-horse racing, a nationwide pastime though Hadley competes mainly in the West, features horses sprinting a 440-yard straightaway with jockeys astride the creatures.
But Hadley also focuses on chariot racing, in part as a pursuit during the lull when the quarter-horse racing season tapers, from November through March. The sport started in the 1960s and 1970s as friendly contests between farmers to see who had the strongest, fastest work horses. In its original incarnation, horses would actually pull sleighs.
The sport took a more serious turn, two-wheeled carts replaced sleighs and now horses get specialized training. In Jessica Hadley’s view, though, it’s still a bit more pure, maybe because it’s not quite as widespread as quarter-horse racing. She also helps with horse training.
“I think the chariot racing is a bit more exhilarating,” she said. She enjoys quarter-horse racing as well, but calls it “more of a job.”
Jordan Hadley, for his part, likes the distinct challenge of getting the two horses pulling a chariot to work together as one. “There’s so much that goes in to creating a team,” he said.
Ogden is something of a hub for the sport. The track at the Golden Spike Event Center, a big venue for chariot racing, hosted the state championships in February and the world championships over two recent weekends, March 14-15 and March 21-22.
“It’s just that we have more hands-on help, hands on deck to keep (the track) running,” said Jessica Hadley. That is, there’s always a contingent ready and willing to do whatever necessary to keep the track in tip-top shape, key in keeping it a popular venue.
Jordan Hadley is eager to see the sport grow. It seemed to reach a peak in the 1990s, while the number of teams competing has dropped off since then. He sees it rebounding, though, and is eager to spread the word about the sport to generate more interest, more competitors, more fans.
Yes, he loves quarter-horse racing, but chariot racing holds a special sentimental place inside him. “Me, I love the chariots more. There’s just something very, very unique about driving two horses. … There’s just something very, very special about it,” Hadley said.