On the cusp of passing $16 million in purses for the third consecutive season, driver Tim Tetrick, who celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday, is thankful

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"It is definitely above and beyond what I ever dreamed of getting to do," he said. "I've been fortunate to love what I do and be good at it. I never dreamed to drive world champion horses, get to drive horses that make a million a year and have the run of luck that I've had. It's a great honour just to do that. It's fun to wake up every day and go to work and do what you like to do and make good money at it."

A native of Illinois, Tetrick burst onto the national scene in 2007 when he set seasonal records for wins, with 1,189, and purses, with $18.35 million. Last year, he won 901 times and set another record for earnings, with $19.73 million. This season, Tetrick has earned $15.99 million – good for first place in North America - despite missing several weeks in January while recovering from hip replacement surgery.

Entering the 2007 campaign, Tetrick ranked No. 119 among all North American harness racing drivers in history for career purses, with $19.41 million. Entering Monday, he was No. 21, with $73.48 million.

"It's not easy," Tetrick said. "Everybody thinks it's easy, but you better love to do it or it will be hard to keep up with all the work. It's a lot of running up and down the highway [to various tracks]. I drive myself."

This year last time, Tetrick was preparing for his right hip replacement surgery for a congenital orthopedic issue. The left hip will eventually need the same treatment, but Tetrick says it is holding steady and not painful enough to require surgery yet.

"I'm going to wait, maybe a year; we'll see how long it takes for it to go bad," he said. "I'm getting ready to take some time off here. I'm going home (to Geff, Illinois) for five days. I'm pretty much going to take the whole month of December off. I'm going to go to Vegas for a bit for the National Finals Rodeo. I'm pretty excited to get to do that."

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This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S.
Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com. *