While Woodbine Racetrack kicked off its Fall/Winter standardbred meet this past Monday, the top driver on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit continues to remain unclear as the end of the calendar year draws near.
Jody Jamieson, Canada’s Driver of the Year in 2011, currently sits atop the leaderboard with 218 victories this season on the WEG circuit, but only six wins ahead of nearest rival, Scott Zeron. Sylvain Filion is stalking in third place with 204 victories on the season.
Jamieson, a Moffat resident, will look to capture his fourth WEG driving title. The reigning champion posted 328 victories in 2011. The 94-win difference between Jamieson and Filion, the second-place finisher, was the largest margin of victory since 2002 when Chris Christoforou took the top spot, winning 105 more dashes than runner-up Paul MacDonell.
“It’s fun that Scott is right there with me,” Jamieson said. “I pride myself on being No. 1 in the standings, so the stretch drive will be fun for both of us and the fans as well.”
Zeron, who was a finalist for the second straight year in 2011 as Canada’s top driver, is enjoying his best season to date on the WEG circuit.
“It’s something I think about quite a bit,” said Zeron, about the driving standings. “It’s a great race to be a part of. I’m checking the standings all the time to see where everyone is at and it’s great for the sport. We are back at Woodbine now and there’s still a lot of racing to be done.”
Zeron, a third-place finisher in WEG’s 2011 driver standings with 206 wins, was the leading reinsman for the first time in his young career during the 2012 Mohawk summer meet, which concluded this past Saturday. The Oakville resident captured 119 wins from 655 starts.
“As a driver, you always try and improve. That’s a goal for everyone, I think,” he said. “It was always a goal of mine to be a top driver on this circuit, but I never thought it would happen this quickly. It’s been a great ride and I’ve had a terrific year. I have a lot to be thankful for.”
The Jamieson-Zeron battle will continue every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Rexdale oval. First-race post time on Mondays is 7:10 p.m. and on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays the first race will get underway at 7:30 p.m.
(WEG)