Neva Burright

Neva Burright (June 10, 1883 – February 10, 1958 ), the daughter of John B. and Emma Gill Tomlinson, was a harness racing driver born in Mt. Carroll, Illinois. Personal life Her first husband, Albert Eugene Holman, also a harness racing driver, died on May 22, 1927, at the age of 56. She married LaForrest "Forrest" Burright the following year and moved to Oregon, Illinois, with five of her seven children. Career On September 23, 1943, Burright, and her bay gelding, Luckyette, faced the legendary Sep Palin and several other renowned drivers in the Grand Circuit meet at Delaware, Ohio. Palin and Provident won the first heat, while Burright and Luckyette finished in fifth place. In the second heat, Burright and Luckyette shocked the harness racing world by not only winning but setting a record for women drivers over a half-mile track with a time of 2:04 ¾.

Palin and Provident placed fifth in the second heat at Delaware. In the third heat, Burright and Luckyette finished second, while Palin and Provident placed third. Claude Isaac Shilling of Columbus, Ohio, and Conchita, a black mare, won this heat.

After the close of the third heat, all of the horses but Luckyette, Provident, and Conchita, heat winners, returned to the barn. These three horses were set to race in a fourth heat to determine the overall winner. However, when the judges called back the three heat winners for a race off, Palin didn't appear. Recognition During the late 1940s, harness racing fans began to call Burright "Grandma Burright," a moniker that was perhaps first used when she raced at Roosevelt Raceway in August 1946. Burright went on to have a successful career at pari-mutuel race tracks and the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame elected her as an "Immortal" in 1994. Death Burright died on February 10, 1958, at the age of 74. Her husband, Forrest, died two days later.