A milestone rarely seen in Maritime harness racing was reached Sunday afternoon at Truro Raceway, in Bible Hill, NS.

Fredericton, NB resident Todd Trites scored his 200th win of the season with T Js Clown in a 2:03.1 mile.

"It was pretty surreal doing it," Trites said. "The most wins I’ve had in a year was 148, so I set a goal this year of 150, but I hit 150 pretty early so I thought I had a shot at 200 (wins)."

Going into Sunday’s races, Trites had 199 wins and thought he had a decent chance to get his 200th. T Js Clown’s caretaker, Kenny St. John, gave Trites his instructions in the race paddock.

"[Kenny St. John] didn’t think I could get around the rail horse, but if I could get to front he said, ‘I don’t think they can catch you.’"

Trites didn’t think making the lead posed a problem. "I said, ‘well, I have been known to get them off the gate.’ [Kenny] kinda chuckled and said, ‘I’ve seen that.’"

Trites wasn’t sure he was winning the race until there was only a quarter-mile left to go.

"I wasn’t real sure until the three-quarter pole when the horse on the outside was fading a bit and the one behind wasn’t keeping tight up on my back. When I put the whip over [T J’s Clown’s] tail and asked him a bit, he kinda stepped off on them."

The horsepeople in Truro also gave Trites their compliments. "A lot of people I have a lot of respect for were quick to congratulate me when I got off the track. That was pretty cool."

Trites was happy to be able to share his season with his father, Paul, who made the trip with him to Truro.

"It was funny my dad was over in the grandstand and he was happy for me, but he never came out for his picture. (On the way home) I was kinda giving him a hard time and said, ‘geez, I hope you’re not waiting for me to win 200 next year,’" Trites said with a laugh.

He was quick to thank everyone that made it possible for the milestone to be reached.

"You know I put on a lot of miles this year, but I rode on the back of some pretty good owners and trainers."

But the road wasn’t all easy going, as earlier in the year Trites had a horse fall down in a racing accident at Truro Raceway, but he was able to walk away from it.

"I drove in the next race but I hurt my shoulder when I went down, and it’s something that’s kinda been a bad wing all year and I haven’t had enough time off to really let it heal."

Another scary moment came the first of July at Fredericton Raceway. Trites had some trouble behind the starting gate while aboard Funyanna. The duo went into the centre field where the filly proceeded to cartwheel head-first, dumping Trites from the race bike. The episode wasn’t going to stop Trites.

"It was Walter Dale day and it was gonna take more than that to get me out of the bike for the day. I hit the dirt pretty good a couple times but as a benefit of being 128 pounds I roll pretty good," Trites joked.

Although he regularly drives at Exhibition Park Raceway in Saint John, NB and Fredericton Raceway, the highlights of Trites' year came on Prince Edward Island. His biggest win was in the Atlantic Breeders Crown final with three-year-old filly Shadowcross Arose at the Charlottetown Driving Park. The next biggest was setting the track record for two-year-old colt pacers at Summerside Raceway with Ultimate Blessing, owned by the Ultimate Stable of Dieppe, NB. Trites has nothing but praise for the colt and his connections.

"[Ultimate Blessing] had amazing speed. I’ve driven a lot of nice colts and fillies but when it comes to sheer acceleration, he’s right up there as one of the best. He went some big trips early, and it weighed on him a little bit at the end of the year. But I expect him to bounce back and be a force to be reckoned with next year."

His passion in life, aside from his wife and four young daughters, is driving race horses, but his day job sees him go to work at New Brunswick Power. He says he’s very fortunate to have the set up he does.

"It’s great to keep the driving as kinda a hobby and have a security of a cheque in the bank every two weeks from NB Power, and it’s a great place to work for. They’re pretty flexible to work with my schedule, like if I need to go to Summerside on a week night, I can get away and they’ll let me come in early the next day or whatever."

Harness racing in New Brunswick is in an optimistic time right now, with the newly formed Horse Racing New Brunswick taking over control of the province’s racetracks. Trites is very happy with the new set-up, but says it won’t be easy.

"I couldn’t be happier with the people they’ve chosen. We’ve got to work together and we have no one to blame but ourselves if this doesn’t work out. We’ve got a great core of people, and I think they have a lot of great ideas, so I’m very optimistic."

As for Trites himself, he’s just happy with the year he had.

"I never harnessed any of those horses I won with this year, it was efforts by everyone else that got me there. I definitely have over achieved this year."

(Nicholas Oakes is a journalism student at Holland College, Charlottetown, PEI, and a columnist with Atlantic Post Calls)