Nick Steward

By Nicholas Oakes

When Robert Shepherd would go to drive at tracks throughout Southwestern Ontario, he would always see a kid with a blue and white suit warming up horses. Now when he look over at the other drivers behind the gate he sees that same person lining up with him, and putting up numbers to prove he deserves to be there.
Nicholas Steward is his name, and at 18-years-old he’s showing the world that driving horses is his game.
Steward lives in London, Ont., and started around horses at eight-year-old with his grandfather – Larry Fitzsimmons. He jogged his first horse – Keep On Laughing – when he was 10, and this started dreams of becoming a driver..
Then in his early teens he started warming up horses for his grandfather’s stable, then things took off.
“I just started with grandpa and then it became wintertime and people didn’t want to do it because it was cold,” Steward recalls.
Then Steward was certain driving horses was going to be his future.
“I wanted him to go to school but he wouldn’t,” Fitzsimmons – a winner of over $5.6 million training – says of his grandson. “He had in his mind he wanted to be a driver. He’s holding up his end of the bargain, he’s doing good for himself.”
Good is definitely being modest, as in his first four months driving Steward recorded 51 wins and banked $400,000 in purses. But before all that was day one, and Steward’s nerves were just fair.
“But I had the seven hole so it wasn’t too bad. I drove three that night and I didn’t do very good,” Steward says honestly.
His first win was at Western Fair Raceway with Rhianne – trained by his stepfather Ray Bunn.
“I just sat in the two hole and got lucky,” Steward remembers. “I pulled out early too, I wouldn’t do that anymore.”
It was a great feeling to be in the winner’s circle, Steward says.
“It was good hearing Frank Salive, he kind of praises you up and gives good remarks about your drive.”
In his short time, Steward has recorded three win performances on two occasions – at Dresden Raceway and Hiawatha Horse Park.
“It’s always a thrill to win a race. You learn from all the older guys out there and you learn from your mistakes too.”
“He’s learning,” Shepherd comments, “he’s getting better all the time. He can carry (the horses he drives) along a long way.”
A normal summer week for Steward would see him spending Monday night at Grand River, Tuesday afternoon at Woodstock then back at Grand River at night, Wednesday at Dresden, Thursday at Hiawatha Horse Park, Friday night at Grand River, Saturday afternoon at Woodstock then the night at Hiawatha Horse Park, and Sunday afternoon action at Clinton.
With that hectic schedule, plus jogging for his grandfather in the morning what does he do with his small amount of spare time?
“Sleep, I like to sleep,” Steward laughs.
“Everybody likes him, he’s a likeable kid,” Fitzsimmons says. ” He’s got a nice smile.”