Driver George Brennan reached his latest milestone at his second home Wednesday night
.
Brennan won his 6,000th career race, leading at every waterlogged Yonkers Raceway pylon with Rydeabout ($6.80) in the $12,000, second-race trot.
Say this much for Brennan...he did away with the suspense early. Needing two victories to the reach the magic number, Brennan won both halves of the $27.40 early daily double. He went the distance with Sun Beau Slick ($9.20), winning the $7,000 pacing opener in 1:56.2.
"I don’t think about the numbers...not at all," Brennan said. "I always appreciate the owners, trainers and caretakers giving me the opportunities. I only worry about getting around the track safely. I figure everything else is going to take care of itself."
There was a bit of irony in Brennan reaching his latest plateau with a Yonkers' trotter. His biggest win here came in the 2006 Yonkers Trot, when he filled in for an injured John Campbell as Horse of the Year Glidemaster finished off his Triple Crown. That mile--1:55.4 on a cold, late November night--remains both a stakes record (for Yonkers Trots contested here) as well as a track record for three-year-old colts.
Brennan, with over $95 million in career purses, is compiling career numbers. He's currently the leading driver at the Meadowlands with 184 victories and began the night third in North America in wins (251) as well as second to Tim Tetrick in purses (just under $4 million)
The 43-year-old Brennan, a native of Monticello, New York, drove his first winner at Monticello Raceway in 1984.
"Rob Ron Romper. I was a junior in high school, and I remember it like it happened yesterday."
(With files from Yonkers Raceway)