Driver Travis Cullen earned his 3,000th career driving win as he guided Hungry Hill to victory in a $9,500 optional-claiming trot on Thursday, May 14 at Flamboro Downs.
Cullen ordered the Alan Fair-trained Hungry Hill to the front in a :27.4 first quarter and had him on an uncontested lead past the half in :56.3 and onto the backstretch. Nothingbutadreamer (Samuel Fillion) menaced from the pocket as they raced to three-quarters in 1:26, but Hungry Hill responded to Cullen's urging and held off that rival by three-quarters of a length for a 1:56.2 victory. The Fixer (Paul MacKenzie) was third. The winner, a five-year-old son of Kadabra-Chardonnay Hill, is owned by Elizabeth Fair of Ancaster, Ont. He paid $9 to win.
Cullen, who entered the card on 2,999 wins, achieved the milestone in his 17,070th start. The Dundas, Ont. resident is in his 17th year of driving, having debuted in 2010 at the Yorkton Exhibition in Saskatchewan. The winner of the inaugural Future Star Award in 2013, Cullen has racked up $28.1 million in driving earnings, a total helped by a career-best season of $3.9 million last year. He was the leading driver at Flamboro in 2024 and is 125-for-695 across all tracks this year.
The 34-year-old ended the night on 3,001 career wins as he oversaw Yourtheone’s sixth consecutive victory in the finale. Yourtheone, sent out by trainer Jodie Cullen for A1stable of Dundas, Ont., went gate-to-wire again. He left aggressively from post three to force post-eight starter Ashleysbest (Jay Harris) into the pocket, then set fractions of :27.3, :57.3 and 1:25.3 and began distance himself from the field at three-quarters. The gelding streaked away to win by more than four lengths for the fourth straight start with a final margin of 6-1/4 lengths in a 1:54.2 mile. Thatmomentinlife (Brady Galliers) finished second with Tellit Russ Tellit (Austin Sorrie) closing for third.
Yourtheone, operating at the $10,000 claiming level in his past two outings, is perfect since switching to the Cullen barn and is now seven-for-21 on the season. The eight-year-old son of Shanghai Phil-Millbanks Ariel has earned $326,149 and won 49 times in 185 career starts. He paid $2.20 to win.
To view Thursday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Flamboro Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)