Jody Jamison unleashed Blast Of Sunshine from the pocket, and as the six-year-old stallion rolled to victory, the reinsman tallied his 9,000th career driving win on Sunday, Dec. 7 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The win marked another major milestone for Jamieson, who became the first Canadian-based driver to hit $150 million in earnings in a career last season.
After Sunday's win, Canada’s three-time Driver of the Year indicated he’s already looking forward to the next one.
“It’s a big number — I’m not sure of the amount of drivers in the history of harness racing who have got to 9,000,” he said. “We saw a couple of guys lately get over 10 [thousand]. Nine thousand’s the last one before 10,000, so it’s a nice one to get out of the way.”
In the milestone victory, Jamieson procured a blast of early speed from Blast Of Sunshine, getting the Gerard Demers trainee to the front in a :27.2 opening quarter. Outlawgrandetorino (James MacDonald) then brushed to the front nearing the half in :56.1 and led the field past three-quarters in 1:25.4. Blast Of Sunshine shifted out as they came off the last turn, and he swelled up and charged past Outlawgrandetorino to a 2-1/4-length win in 1:55.2. Jingle Inmy Pocket (Dave Kelly) was up for second over Rays Kredit (Tyler Borth). Blast Of Sunshine, owned by Demers of Freelton, Ont. and Sylvain Caron of Quebec City, Que. paid $5.40 to win.
Jamieson, a fan favourite at Mohawk known for greeting racegoers after his wins, began his career in 1994 at the Paris Fair in Ontario. Since then, the Truro, N.S. native has won 9,000 races in 55,671 starts while racking up earnings of $157.3 million, earning four driving titles on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit along the way. The 49-year-old can count two World Driving Championships, two North America Cups, four Metro Paces, three Breeders Crowns, two Maple Leaf Trots, and a Little Brown Jug among his significant achievements.
Jamieson has earned 196 wins this year, his most since 2018, and has broken $5 million in earnings for the first time since 2014 while extending his streak of $4 million-plus seasons to 22.
He said on the Mohawk broadcast he is happy with his driving recently.
“When I got to 8,000, I felt like I was maybe trending downward,” said Jamieson. “I didn’t think I was getting here, I didn’t think I’d get to nine [thousand]. But I’m hungrier than ever, I feel great about how I’m driving, I feel great about the whole game and where I’m at it in it, and I’m going to be trying hard for 10,000.”
A race before Jamieson’s milestone, Logan Park delivered in the $40,000 Open Trot for trainer Kyle Fellows, who hit a number of his own less than an hour prior.
After settling in behind Hasty Bid (James MacDonald), last week’s Open winner, through a :27.2 first panel, Doug McNair quarter-poled Logan Park to the front. The two-time O’Brien Award winner then cruised through :57.1 and 1:26.2 middle-half splits, and he produced a :27 final quarter under confident McNair handling to prevail in 1:53.2. He was 1-1/2 lengths to the good over Hasty Bid, who was followed by Sid The Kid (Trevor Henry) in third.
Logan Park, whose trainer reached $10 million in earnings earlier in the night, won for the eighth time this year in 19 attempts. The son of Archangel-Rite Outa The Park is now 44-for-102 lifetime with $2,297,349 in the bank for Outofthepark Stable of Rockwood, Ont., Reg Higgs of Blenheim, Ont. and Arpad Szabo of Bradford, Ont. He paid $2.40 to win.
Trainer-driver Dave Kelly got his first win since shifting his operations from Alberta to Ontario last month as he rallied Show Stop up for a 32-1 upset in the third of four $15,000 Pop-Up Series divisions on the card. The gelding scored by a nose in 1:54.2 for Kelly, who trains him and shares ownership with Randy Smith and Richard McPhee. The other Pop-Up winners were State One Smiley ($2.80), Ginger Tree Finny ($2.90), and Larceny ($9.60). The series is for horses that have started for a purse of $10,000 or less in their last three starts and are non-winners of $50,000 this year. Non-winners of $30,000 in 10 starts or more in 2025 and leg-one starters were also eligible.
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)