Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino closed the curtain on its 28th season of live harness racing on Saturday, Dec. 4 with the leading driver and trainer titles awarded to Trace Tetrick and Tyler George.
Tetrick took home his 10th leading driver title and George brought home his second consecutive leading trainer trophy.
Tetrick seemed to have his sights set on the leading driver honours as soon as the 2021 meet kicked off, spending the majority of the season bolstering his lead on his competitors to earn a total of 403 seasonal wins in his 1,877 starts. As it has been in seasons past, the top three drivers consisted of Tetrick, John DeLong and Sam Widger. DeLong held the silver title with 256 wins from 1,587 starts while Widger took third with 236 wins from 1,615 starts.
Taking home his eighth consecutive leading driver title, Tetrick currently resides in third place for top drivers in the U.S. with his 561 wins this season. Since 2008, the Illinois native has continually earned more than $2 million a season, contributing to those lifetime earnings of $67,959,410. Tetrick has driven three Breeders Crown victors, sitting behind Freaky Feet Pete in 2015, as well as Blazin Britches and Fiftydallarbill in the first ever edition of the Breeders Crown to be held at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in 2017.
“I’m just very fortunate to get to drive a lot of incredible equine athletes,” said Tetrick. “I want to thank the incredible horsemen who put in me the position to be successful. I’m extremely grateful for the hard work of the owners, trainers and grooms that is put into the horses I get the privilege of driving.”
After winning his first Harrah’s Hoosier Park leading trainer title in 2020, George took home top honours in 2021. George recorded his first-ever million-dollar season at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in 2021 and his stable has currently accumulated $1,642,444 in total this season. While George has been training since 2004, he began consistently bringing in over $1 million in yearly earnings in 2016. The Ohio native is no stranger to the Indiana Sires Stakes circuit, training the likes of Indiana champions Golden Paradise and Always A Prince. The 2021 season saw George record 119 training victories at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, matching the all-time Hoosier Park single-season mark set by Jeff Cullipher in 2018.
“It’s a nice accomplishment for our stable and it means a lot to Cassie and me,” said George. “I appreciate the support from our owners all season long, as well as all of the hard work that our staff puts in on a daily basis. We have great people that we work with every single day and the 2021 season has been a lot of fun for all of us.”
Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino would like to thank all of the fans, bettors and horsepeople who played a vital role in making the 2021 season at Hoosier Park an overwhelming success.
(With files from Harrah's Hoosier Park)