A hat trick on the Thursday, Dec. 14 evening card at Yonkers Raceway was just what Brent Holland needed to achieve his 6,000th career driving win.
Holland pocketed his first victory of the night in the second race with Ricky Bucci student P L Oscar ($8.10). The pair followed in second throughout the mile before taking command in the final turn and motoring home to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:57.4. In race five, Holland and Bucci teamed up for a double with Gingras Beach ($12.80), a 2-1/4-length victory in 1:54.4. A two-length win in 1:54 by Paul Blumenfeld-conditioned State Senator ($4.90) completed the triad of wins for Holland and secured the 6,000-win milestone for the native of Wilmington, Ohio, who began working with horses for a neighbour, Maynard Hagemeyer.
"He and Bob Farrington in Chicago both taught me a lot," Holland said in a previous interview.
His first winner came in in his first pari-mutuel start, as an 18-year-old, with longshot E Cs Best in 1989 during a card of harness racing where it was "pouring down rain" at Lebanon Raceway.
With an even 6,000 in the win column, Holland boasts $75,631,962 in career earnings.