Having an adventurous streak in him, Jim Marino didn’t want to sit idle while harness racing at Fraser Downs was on hiatus during the Cloverdale Rodeo & Country Fair last
May.
So he did what any other 29-year-old bachelor might do: Pack up and head south without any particular time frame in mind and a map that would lead him to the hub of standardbred racing in Sacramento, California.
“I had breakfast with my mom on Mother’s Day and hit the highway right after,” Marino recalls. “As things worked out, it was a good move. Everybody treated me so well. It was a real inspiring experience.”
Marino, started slowly at Cal Expo with three or four drives per card but once owners and trainers realized his talent, he found himself in demand. “It became a regular thing for me to be driving in eight or 10 races a day,” he says.
And one in particular will stick with him for the rest of his life. It happened on July 11 when he urged a trotter named Southern John to victory for Marino’s 1,000th career driving victory. “Every driver on the grounds came out for a picture and the presentation of a plaque,” Marino says. “It was quite a moment. What made it so great was the fact we don’t have trotters at Fraser Downs, just pacers. It was the first trotter I’d ever driven.”
Marino is back in his familiar Fraser Downs surroundings where he’s obviously comfortable. The 2006 driving champion is leading that category again after the opening 10 weeks of this 2009/10 season, having won 32 times with 31 seconds and 31 thirds.
“Sure, I’d like to repeat as the leading driver but there’s plenty of competition here with Eddie Hensley (29 wins), Serge Masse (23 wins) and Dave Hudon (22 wins),” Marino says. “There’s a whole lot of racing left on our schedule and anything can happen. I’m just happy to be back home and enjoying life.”
Finish Lines: The well-documented ‘Alberta Invasion’ of drivers and trainers resulting in an overflow of horses at Fraser Downs earlier this year has gone in the other direction. Director of Racing Jackson Wittup estimates 75 horses have been moved back to Edmonton for the opening of the Northlands Park season, resulting in nine-race cards at Fraser Downs. With racing resuming this weekend (Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:15 p.m.) the second leg of the 2009 Spartacus Claiming Series goes as the feature Sunday. The Final with a purse of $20,000 will take place on Sunday, November 29.
(Fraser Downs)