Delmer M. Insko (Del)

A member of a harness racing family, Del drove in his first race in 1946, six days before his 15^th birthday. Del gained attention as a “good young trainer” throughout the early fifties but he didn’t zoom into national attention until the 1958 season when he soared to third in the national ranking for dashes won with 116 victories with Billy Haughton and Buddy Gilmour ranking ahead of him.    

When Del was 29 years old in 1960, he was the youngest driver ever to win a North American dash-winning championship. Del was the leading driver in dashes won with 156 when he was named “Driver of the Year,” and in 1969 he led in money won with $1,635,463 in earnings. Del piloted Overcall, the Cam Fella of his day, who was undefeated in 21 starts against top FFA pacers in 1969.  In 1975, Del

made a triple-sweep of Roosevelt’s International Trotting Series, a feat unequalled before, with 1975 “Horse of the Year” Savoir.  

Del has been quoted as saying that his biggest thrill in racing was winning the Woodrow Wilson Pace with Land Grant in 1980.  From 1977 to 1980, Del  averaged $1.6 million per year in money earned.

Del did most of his driving on tracks in the New York City area though he occasionally picked up drives on the grand circuit.  In 1966, Del drove Speedy Rodney to a world trotting record of 1:58.3 on a half-mile track (Yonkers Raceway), a record that stood until 1984.