“I always have done quite a bit better when I’m busy than when I’m not, so I try to stay busy. I’ve got a pretty strong work ethic. I figure that if I can outwork everybody I’ll do alright.”
Tony Morgan’s drive to keep working hard has resulted in a whole lot of winning drives.
Morgan is on the verge of joining Dave Palone and Herve Filion as the only drivers in North American harness racing history with at least 15,000 career victories. The 56-year-old Morgan is just two wins away from reaching the milestone following Wednesday's Dover Downs program.
“It’s nice to be recognized by your peers, but it probably means more to my family than to me,” Morgan said about approaching 15,000 wins. “I get my kicks out of just working every day. I like that. I like the daily grind. I like the competition and keeping busy.
“It’s another feather in my cap, I guess, so it’s nice. And it gives my family something to talk about. That’s nice too.”
Morgan, who was born in Ohio, rose to prominence in Chicago and now calls the Delaware circuit home. The son of driver/trainer Eddie Morgan Jr., himself the winner of 4,724 races, Morgan got his first win one month shy of turning 15 in 1973.
In 1995, Morgan led all drivers in North America in wins, and captured the title again in 1996, 1997, 2006 and 2008. From 1995 through 2009, he was never out of the top 10 and racked up 10,695 wins during that span.
Morgan was Harness Tracks of America’s Driver of the Year in 2006, 2002, 1997 and 1996. He is one of only three drivers to win more than 1,000 races in a year, totaling 1,004 in 2006.
Horses driven by Morgan have earned $117 million in purses, good for 13th place on the all-time list.
So far this year, Morgan has won 55 races and is fifth in the driver standings at Dover Downs. For the past three seasons, he has averaged 323 wins and nearly $3 million in purses.
Palone leads all harness racing drivers in the world in wins with 16,937. Germany’s Heinz Wewering is second on the worldwide list, with more than 16,760, followed by Filion and Morgan.
Morgan could pass Filion’s total of 15,183 wins sometime this summer. The two competed against each other in the mid-2000s, following Morgan’s move to Delaware from Chicago, and Morgan said following in Filion’s footsteps was special.
“Of course, he’s been almost every driver’s idol forever,” Morgan said. “He was a great guy and a great driver and he outworked everybody for years and years. I guess that’s kind of the model I’ve always followed. I’ve tried to stay as busy as I can, and the more practice you get, the better you get at it.
“He was a very sharp guy. I spent a little bit of time with him when I first got to Delaware. He was a really nice guy. He was really good to the young guys and that’s kind of a novelty, in my experience anyway. I think that people when they get older they tend to be kind of short with the young guys. I don’t think that’s the way to be.”
Morgan has tried to follow Filion’s example in dealing with younger drivers today.
“I like to think that the young guys can learn something and it’s nice to be able to help some of them along,” Morgan said. “They teach me something every night too.”
And no doubt help fuel the drive.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.