Virgil Morgan Jr. became just the second trainer in harness racing history to reach the 7,000 wins plateau when Family Recipe from his stable captured Thursday’s 13th race at Miami Valley Raceway.
The 56-year-old conditioner trails only Ron Burke is lifetime wins.
Morgan Jr. began his training career in 1992, notching six wins and six seconds in 22 starts for a .439 Universal Trainer Rating Score. For the next 29 consecutive years, Virgil’s UTRS has always been above .300, including three additional years above .400. Morgan has recorded at least 100 wins from his barn in each of the last 27 years, with one season (2000) with over 400 triumphs, nine seasons with over 300 and another nine with over 200 wins.
In addition to winning 7,000 races, horses under Morgan’s tutelage have earned $63.7 million. He had back-to-back $4 million earning years in 2007-08 and has surpassed $3 million on four other occasions. Virgil has been the leading trainer at Scioto Downs, near his hometown of Grove City, Ohio, each season since 1995. He was inducted into the Ohio Harness Racing Hall Of Fame in 2021.
The Thursday program at Miami Valley included a $26,000 Open I Pace captured by GD Western Joe (Chris Page) in 1:51.3, beating Bell I No (Tyler Smith) and Havefaithinme N (Kayne Kauffman).
A $22,000 Open II went to Grantmeawish (Josh Sutton) in an identical 1:51.3, topping Ticks A Yankin (Tony Hall) and Absolut Rocks (Dan Noble).
Miami Valley is dark until Monday (April 18) when racing resumes at 4:05 p.m.
(Miami Valley Raceway)