{"id":5345,"date":"2020-11-18T18:44:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/?page_id=5345"},"modified":"2020-11-18T18:44:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:44:34","slug":"victor-kirby","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/spotlights\/victor-kirby\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Kirby"},"content":{"rendered":"
Communications<\/p>\n
The transition from star Marymount point guard to successful harness racing driver came naturally for Victor Kirby. Both involve competition, require physical fitness and depend on great hand-eye coordination.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly in harness racing you\u2019re going 30 miles per hour behind a thousand-pound animal and these things don\u2019t have brakes,\u201d Kirby says.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019d rather sit behind a horse than a desk. After graduating from Marymount, he spent six months in a bank management training program before realizing that it really wasn\u2019t for him.<\/p>\n
Having grown up around harness racing, he gave driving a shot. His grandfather had raced and trained horses, and the Delaware horse farm Kirby now owns has been in his family for more than 100 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been very lucky to have hooked up with the right people,\u201d he says. \u201cThings have snowballed and gone very well. If you don\u2019t do it well, you don\u2019t get paid. It\u2019s not a salary or a commission. It\u2019s performance-based. One day you\u2019re way up, having your best day. Then the next day is your worst. I used to dwell on that. The best way to do it is turn the page and hope it turns out better. Sometimes you get in a slump and can\u2019t do anything right. Or you can be on a hot streak and can\u2019t do anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirby says he uses his degree every day, often as a racing spokesman. He once wore a microphone and recorded during a day at the track. The clip, still available on YouTube, shows him remaining calm \u2013 and funny \u2013 throughout his races.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve me, during my first few years, if they had miked me up it wouldn\u2019t have been quite like that,\u201d he says with a broad smile. \u201cOver the years, you hope you get better. You learn a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MU grad has definitely gotten better, recently registering his 4,000th lifetime win at Harrington Raceway, where he\u2019s been the top driver for the past two years. He competes at major tracks on the East Coast and has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Class of 1994 Major Communications Bio The transition from star Marymount point guard to successful harness racing driver came naturally for Victor Kirby. Both involve competition, require physical fitness and depend on great hand-eye coordination. \u201cOnly in harness racing you\u2019re going 30 miles per hour behind a thousand-pound animal and these things don\u2019t have brakes,\u201d […]<\/p>\n