Chris Christoforou grew up with a strong calling to become a harness driver and his career path has led him to winning many of racing's top stakes and multiple awards, putting him in contention for the highest honour in the sport.
"It was just automatic, that's what I was going to do from the time I can remember," said Christoforou about growing up in a harness racing family and choosing to follow a career path in the business. "There's no 'oh, this is the moment.' I was probably four or five years old and we had a circular carpet in the living room and I was racing my little cars and I'd line them up like a horse race and I'd move them, you know, this one's second-over, this one's third-over, then the whole field had to move around this turn and they'd all move positions. From that age, it's just always been there."
The talented reinsman has come a long way from racing those toys around the living room to racing Grand Circuit stakes champions around the top racetracks in North America, landing his name on the 2023 ballot for the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
"I was informed that I've been nominated to be eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame so I'm pretty pumped up about it," said Christoforou when asked about a surprise call he recently received during an interview on the pre-game show at Woodbine Mohawk Park last week with Hall of Fame driver and host Randy Waples.
Christoforou said he was left nearly speechless when he received the call from Jeff Porchak, Chair of the Hall of Fame's Standardbred Nominating Committee, informing him that he is a candidate in the Standardbred Driver category alongside Clare MacDonald and Ed Tracey. The Hall of Fame Election Committee will determine the one individual to be inducted as part of the Class of 2023, with voting closed this past Wednesday and the results to be announced on Wednesday, April 26.
"Jeff Porchak is the one that makes the call and I texted him after and I said, 'I'm sorry I didn't talk very much to you, I was in shock.' I was kind of like, 'Yeah, ok great, that's fantastic, thank you very much.' Usually I'll have a conversation with him, but yeah, I was a little short with him so I texted him back.
"I kind of looked at it like 'the best driving colony this country's ever had and you're invited and maybe you're going to be lucky enough to get in,'" he said of being listed on the Hall of Fame ballot. "So, I'm hoping. I've got my fingers crossed."
Christoforou has been driving Standardbred horses for 33 consecutive years, beginning in 1990. A four-time winner of the O’Brien Award as Canada’s Driver of the Year, he's won more than 6,700 races with his mounts earning nearly $119 million in purses.
The Campbellville, Ont. horseman discussed some of his career highlights that have put him up for Hall of Fame consideration.
The opportunity to drive his father Charalambos' homebred trotter Earl brought Christoforou into the spotlight early in his driving career, and in 1993, he became the second youngest driver to win a prestigious Breeders Crown championship when they captured the Open Trot division at Mohawk.
Christoforou noted that "he came at the perfect time for me" and admitted that, of course, his younger self felt pressure as a 21-year-old driving in the Breeders Crown with a horse owned by his family.
"I went into that race thinking 'just get a clean trip, he's got to do the rest,'" recalled Christoforou. "Just don't get into trouble, get yourself a clean trip the best you can and that's how it worked out."
Another highlight in his career came courtesy of another family owned champion, 2000 Little Brown Jug winner Astreos.
"It's one of those races. It's that and the Hambletonian -- when I was a kid, those were the two you wanted to win. So to have a chance to win it, and to actually get it done, was amazing," he said, remembering the crowd on hand for one of the sport's most popular pacing Triple Crown races.
Christoforou revealed that Astreos and trotting mare Peaceful Way, both Hall of Famers in their own right, were among his favourite Ontario Sires Stakes horses he's ever sat behind along with trotter Dont Rush.
He also fondly recalled his winning drive with Supergrit in the 1999 Le Trot Mondial over 1-3/8 miles at Hippodrome Montreal.
"It was probably one of my best drives that I ever drove, this race, because to beat Moni Maker -- and she was such a good mare -- I had to be close to her and it was a distance race and I had to move him earlier than I usually would and got into a nice spot in behind her and he removed on me and I got in behind Moni Maker and just got by her in the stretch.
"He was so strong," said Christoforou, praising Supergrit's endurance. "He could just keep going and going. He didn't have like a giant burst of speed, but he could go forever. He could take a lot of air and he didn't get tired. He just kept coming. And that's why I think he won that race. It was a distance race and he just outlasted them basically."
Watch the full interview with Christoforou below.