With over two months remaining on this year's harness racing season and the OSS Super Final's just weeks away, it appears that trainer Tony O'Sullivan is on pace for another career year
.
After celebrating the biggest year of his career last season with $1,436,953 in earnings, O'Sullivan will likely set new personal bests. O'Sullivan has already equaled last year's win total sending 58 horses to the winners circle. The Cambridge, Ontario resident has earned $1,294,892 this season and with the likes of Seriously and Dalhousie Dave, O'Sullivan's goal is within reach.
When asked what he most attributes his success to in 2010, O'Sullivan gives credit to the horses.
"Mainly just quality," O'Sullivan told WEG's Greg Gangle. "I think we've raced about the same amount of times, but [I have] more quality and I've had a couple three-year-olds that have stepped up...there the ones that knock and make you money."
Seriously, a daughter of Rocknroll Hanover, is fresh off a second place effort in the $159,000 division of the Glen Garnsey Memorial for three-year-old pacing fillies Friday afternoon at The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky.
"If you look at her stats, she's been out of the top three maybe once or twice. She's had a really good year with not a lot to show for it."
That filly has $183,455 in seasonal earnings with a 1:50.2 record taken earlier this year at The Meadowlands. Owned and bred by Emerald Highlands Farm of Mount Vernon, Ohio, Seriously has been knocking heads with the best three-year-old pacing fillies in North America this season.
"She's actually gotten sounder, she wasn't sound [earlier in the year] - that's why we scratched her out of the Fan Hanover. We've had a lot of trouble with her feet," confesses O'Sullivan. "In the Town Pro, she wasn't sound. At the Meadowlands for the Mistletoe Shalee, she was because the track down there is so good and then she came back to Mohawk and didn't handle that track very well and her feet really pinched her. Since then she raced on probably the two best surfaces in the world."
O'Sullivan's other top charge, Dalhousie Dave has earned $227,203 this season racing against the best Ontario sired three-year-old pacers. The son of Astreos went unraced at two but has already posted seven victories from 15 starts this season.
"He'll be ready for the Super Final, we're going to London next week for the next Gold and obviously we're going to try to win but my main aim is to somehow get him fresh for the Super Finals after a pretty demanding year on him."
Owned by Jim and John Fielding of Toronto, Ontario, Dalhousie Dave is currently positioned fourth in OSS standings en route to the OSS Super Finals on November 13 at Woodbine Racetrack.
(WEG)