Thirteen-year-old Cambassador, who has won at least one race in 10 of the last 11 years, won for the 50th time on Monday afternoon at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.
Current owner-trainer Parker Smith, the son of driver Jeremy Smith, has won seven of those 50 races with Cambassador and claims "he is my favourite horse ever. I've claimed him three times and hope I can keep him through his mandatory retirement next year. I think he has got a lot more wins in him."
Cambassador came along at the right time for Parker, who was getting by as a warm up driver and doing catch paddocks. Ready to make the leap to fledgling trainer, he plucked down $6,000 hard-earned dollars to claim his prize possession with high hopes.
"He sorta put me on the map," explained Smith. "He tries so hard and shows up every time we race. To me, he's as special as they get. He may only be a bottom claimer at this point in his career, but he's still a warrior."
Cambassador has won at eight different tracks and had 16 trainers over his lengthy career. The highest purse he has ever raced for is $16,000 and he has faced the starting gate 332 times. His speed badge is 1:50.4 taken as a six-year-old at The Meadowlands.
The son of Cams Card Shark has hit the board 152 times and earned $574,270 in purses.
(Hollywood Dayton Raceway)