Tim Tetrick is recovering from hip replacement surgery at his home in southern New Jersey. On Monday, December 15, Tetrick took some time to speak with Harness Racing Communications about how things are coming along.

The 27-year-old, who has suffered from a degenerative hip condition since childhood, had his right hip replaced on December 8 at the Rothman Institute at Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia.

“I’m feeling good, doing good,” Tetrick said today. “I’m moving around. The physical therapists all say I’m doing really good and I’m ahead of schedule, if anything. They’ve been coming here a couple times a week and giving me a bunch of different stretches, like 10 different stretches, to do every day, twice a day. They’re amazed at how quickly it’s coming. Everything seems to be going right as planned.”

This year, Tetrick set an earnings record with $19.8 million in purses, breaking his own mark of $18.4 million established in 2007. Tetrick’s 902 wins this season trailed only Tony Morgan at the time of his surgery. Last season, Tetrick set the record for victories in a year, with 1,189, and was honoured with his first Driver of the Year Award from the U.S. Harness Writers Association. USHWA recently announced that Tetrick won the award for the '09 season, as well.

Had he continued racing this year, Tetrick was poised to become the sport’s first $20-million man.

“It would have been a great accomplishment to make $20 million, but I felt this was probably more important,” said Tetrick, who has been spending his new-found spare time watching television, going to the movies, and playing video games. He plans to return to racing by February 1.

“I’m setting that as the date right now,” Tetrick said. “I want to make sure everything is healed; I don’t want to re-injure it. I want to make sure it’s right.”

(With files from HRC)