To say it was quite a four-day run for driver John Cummings Jr. would be an understatement.
Saturday night, he won the $225,000 New York Sires Stakes for two-year-old filly trotters when he guided Market Rally to a neck victory over Maud Blue Chip in 1:59.1 at Yonkers Raceway.
Cummings then capped off the stretch on Tuesday night (Oct. 1) as he drove Champaignon ($5.90) to a victory in the fourth race at Batavia Downs which was the 2,000th of his career. He's also on the verge of going over $9 million in career earnings as well.
Cummings Jr. is like a fine wine...he's getting better with age. His first pari-mutuel start was back in 1980. It was his only race of the season and he finished third with the purse earnings being just $192 at the age of 18.
He then had a span between 1991 and 1998 where starts were sparse and wins were hard to come by. He had a combined 308 starts in that time frame and won 36 of them. Ironically, all 36 victories came in 1997 when he had 259 mounts. It looked like 2,000 career victories, however, was going to be just a pipe dream.
But how things have changed. Starting in 2000, the wins started to pile up for the 50-year-old Cummings Jr., who has over 12,500 career drives. Since then he has gone over the 100-win plateau in 10 of the past 13 seasons. In the past three seasons alone, Cummings Jr. has scored 562 wins.
This year, he's already smashed his all-time seasonal mark in earnings with nearly $1.4 million and there's about three months left on the calendar to add to that total. Cummings' best season previously was in 2012 where he scored 193 victories and earned $1,105,621. Cummings, a resident of Williamsville, New York, has 186 victories in 2013 and should easily go over the 200-win barrier for the first time ever. He currently ranks in the top 20 nationally in UDR with a .316.
And while it was a great week, things could get even better yet. There's a possibility that Market Rally may be entered in the Breeders Crown and competing in that event and winning it would just cap a career season for John Cummings, Jr.
“It’s a big milestone for me, I want to thank all the trainers that stuck with me throughout the years,” John Cummings Jr. said. “I also want to thank Megan (Wilson), my main trainer for the last ten years. We have been very fortunate together. It’s really a team effort.”
Racing resumes at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Batavia Downs with an 11-race card slated. Once again, there will be no pari-mutuel wagering on-track as the facility prepares for the Friday opening of its new gaming floor.
(Batavia Downs)