Mark Headworth, of Oregon, Ohio, an Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association director, won his 3,000th race as a driver on Friday (February 27) at Northville Downs with AJ Cress in 2:01.4.
AJ Cress is also owned and trained by Headworth. He claimed AJ Cress as a five-year old and he is now 13.
Headworth grew up around Standardbred race horses, working with his family’s stable. He started driving when he was 18 and his first win in the late 1980s with Jans Bama, owned by Ross Willhite and Steve Bateson.
Headworth said he was glad to get his 3,000th win Friday night. He stated it was a slow process as he was at 2,999 wins for a while.
His racing colours are black, white and red, colours he adopted from trainer Cliff Alberton, whom he worked for.
Headworth’s advice to anyone interested in getting a driving license is to be sure they are in it because they love it. He says they must enjoy doing what they do because it can be very time consuming, with racing being in the evenings and over the weekends.
“You have to really enjoy it to be able to keep the pace,” states Headworth.
When asked how can the industry be better promoted, Headworth said by making fair racing strong again. He explained that the fairs are where there are opportunities for fans to get up close with both the horses and the people in the sport. He believes if more people were racing at county fairs and there were more fans, the interaction would be greater, therefore increasing the interest in harness racing. By having fair racing strong again, it might even get new people interested in getting into harness racing.
(Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association)