Bion Shively

Bion Shively (March 26, 1878 – February 24, 1970) was an American harness racing driver and horse trainer.

Early life Bion "Bi" Shively was born in Goodland, Indiana, United States, on March 26, 1878. He was the son of Ira and Evelyn Maxwell Shively. When he was only a year old, his family relocated to Oklahoma.

His uncles were Al and Uriah Shively, former proprietors of the Shively livery barn on South Main Street in Stillwater, Oklahoma. At 9 years old, his family relocated to York, Nebraska. He attended school until about age 13.

Career Early career As a young boy, he frequently snuck into the York County fairgrounds, staying near the stables with hopes of riding for Harve Pickrel. Pickrel, who eventually took Bion under his wing, was a noted breeder of trotters, pacers, and gallopers, drawing buyers from across the United States. He got his start as a jockey in thoroughbred flat racing at age 9. Bion rode his first running horse at the York County fairgrounds in 1887, placing third and winning $8. When he was 14, he rode horses at the fairgrounds in Aurora, Nebraska. Under the tutelage of Pickrel, he developed into a first-rate driver. when he entered harness racing and drove a sulky for the first time at 17.

Harness racing career Upon his return from the war, he turned his attention to training and driving standardbred horses. The Spanish-American War veteran went on to operate a public harness racing stable. During the 1920s and early 1930s, he raced often at the San Joaquin County Fair, where trotters and pacers headlined in Stockton, California. He trained for a Canadian patron and, through those connections, acquired the Canadian pacers Lady Helen and Jerry The Tramp in late 1929 for Russell and Allen of Littleton, Colorado. He went on to campaign their string of five horses. By 1940, Shively maintained a 10-horse stable owned by several prominent West Coast patrons, including John P. Scripps, a San Diego newspaper publisher, and A. H. Lamberth of Los Angeles. He also worked for many years as a trainer for Peter Marengo III of Stockton. Ahead of the 1943 season, he wintered at the Miami fairgrounds and handled the string of Dr. W. R. Scott of Baxter Springs. He competed in the North Randall Grand Circuit.

He landed his first big break after mill owner R. Horace Johnston of Charlotte signed him to a private training and driving contract in 1944. and captured the 1946 Transylvania Trot. Shively began training Rodney, a bay colt bred and owned by R. H. Johnston, in the mid-1940s. He guided Rodney to win the Historic-Dickerson Cup at the Historic Track in 1947. That year, at age 81, Shively retired from competition at Hollywood Park Racetrack, then the country's oldest competitive athlete. Despite training hundreds of trotters over the years, he had only owned five horses of his own during his career.

Bion Shively died on February 24, 1970, in Pomona, California, United States.

Carl Carmer described Shively as "the most unforgettable character" in a biographical sketch published in the November 1962 issue of Reader's Digest. He was formally inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1968.