Southwind Amazon, harness racing’s modern-day winningest horse, was honoured on Tuesday, Dec. 17 in a winner’s circle ceremony at MGM Northfield Park.
Trained by Paul Holzman and owned by Ameer Najor, Southwind Amazon was celebrated for breaking Niffit’s modern-day record on Nov. 5 when he earned his 138th career victory.
On Tuesday, the talented gelding was victorious in his 398th start, competing against conditioned company in the opening race on the program. This marked lifetime victory number 139 for the war horse.
The Camluck - Artoonist gelding, who turns 15 years old and must retire from racing on Jan. 1, is expected to have two more starts before he brings the curtain down on his career.
Southwind Amazon has taken his connections on the ride of a lifetime.
“He has raced against some of harness racing’s greatest of all time, I couldn’t be prouder of him,” said Holzman. “In a couple weeks when we bring the curtain down on his career, I’m not sure I will know what to do -- it’s going to be bittersweet.”
Southwind Amazon will be honoured one more time when he makes his final career start the final week of December. His connections will pull his shoes in the winner's circle before he heads into retirement.
The Pick-6 wager at MGM Northfield Park has stumped bettors for another night (Dec. 17), resulting in a carryover of $11,667.
This sets the stage for one of the largest Pick-6 pools of the season, with an estimated $40,000 pool awaiting players on Wednesday, Dec. 18. The 50-cent non-jackpot wager, starting in race eight, offers a player-friendly 14 percent takeout.
Post time for the 16-race program is 6 p.m.
MGM Northfield Park currently races four evenings a week on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
(With files from Northfield Park)
Southwind Amazon
After the race, the track announcer said that this was the 59th time that Southwind Amazon won a race in which he was driven by Ronnie Wrenn Jr. If Southwind races 2 more times, as scheduled, he will finish his career with exactly 400 starts.