A milestone was reached at Rideau Carleton Raceway this month, when driver Gord Brown notched the 3500th driving win of his career

. As Gord was bringing Stolen Car back in front of the Rideau grandstand from the 8th race on December 8 to mark win #3500, track announcer Norm Borg remarked that "nice guys do indeed finish first in this sport". I can tell you that Gord is indeed a nice guy and is very deserving of all the recognition he gets for reaching this achievement.

Those of you who regularly attend the races at Rideau or at Kawartha Downs see Gord in action almost every time you're at the track. Some of you have even had the pleasure of meeting him, as I have. He has participated in pre-card trackside chats at Kawartha and, as I write this, Gord is just about to appear at Rideau with fellow driver Denis St. Pierre to sign hats for fans in exchange for food bank donations. Gord welcomes opportunities like those to reach out to fans like you. Even on occasions when he was on the track and I have been way up in the booth, Gord has greeted me with a nod of the head or wave of the whip. That's just the personable kind of guy he is.

I read Ken Warkentin's latest contribution to Trot Blogs, in which he points out how many people there are in harness racing who have a positive attitude and are passionate about what they do. Gord is definitely one of those people. It shows not only in his personality, but in his solid performance on the track every year.

Congratulations, Gord, on your 3500th win! You are well on your way to your next milestone, and I look forward to being in the stands or in the booth when that happens.

As the holidays are upon us, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas, and good luck and good racing in 2012.