Driver John De Long recorded the 3,000th win of his driving career after he piloted Parklane Terror to victory in a conditioned pace at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Wednesday evening.
The 1:52.1 victory marked the third win of the season for the three-year-old gelded son of Western Terror and a career milestone for the 32-year-old Wisconsin native.
De Long came into the 13-race card at Hoosier Park on Wednesday just two wins away from his milestone. He also found the winner’s circle with Cindy The Great for trainer Roger Welch on the card before reaching 3,000. De Long’s family and friends were in the winner’s circle to congratulate and acknowledge his accomplishment.
De Long started his driving career on the Illinois fair circuit in 2005 and won his first driving title at Running Aces in 2008. Now at the age of 32, DeLong has over $27 million in career purse earnings. De Long posted his first million dollar season in 2013 and has gone over the million dollar mark in purse earnings every season since. He has finished amongst top five of the leading driver standings at Harrah’s Hoosier Park for the last six seasons. De Long is currently second on the 2021 leading driver standings at Hoosier Park with 98 trips to the winner’s circle and over $1 million in purse earnings. Trace Tetrick leads all drivers with 153 victories.
Also featured on the evening’s 13-race card were two divisions of Indiana Sires Stakes for the three-year-old trotting fillies.
After an uncharacteristic break in an overnight last week, Swift Swanda returned to her winning ways to take the first $47,000 division in 1:54.2. With regular pilot Trace Tetrick at the controls, Swift Swanda went to the front and held off a late charge from the pocket-sitting Dewtifuls Grace and Verlin Yoder to get the victory.
Trained by Erv Miller, the daughter of Swan For All—Cheetah Hall recorded her fourth win from five seasonal starts. Owned in partnership by Anthony Lombardi and The Kales Company LLC, Swift Swanda pushed her lifetime purse earnings to $317,637.
In the second division of the stakes action, Guccios Lady and Michael Oosting pulled the 8-1 upset to get up in the final strides of the mile to score in 1:55.2 over a track rated sloppy. Trained and owned by Melvin Schmucker, Guccios Lady scored her second win of the season and established a new lifetime best. The daughter of Guccio—After Midnight recorded her third lifetime victory from 20 starts and pushed her lifetime bankroll to $66,326 with the win.
Live racing at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino will continue on Thursday, July 8 with a 14-race card highlighted by an Indiana Sires Stakes action for the three-year-old trotting colts. Thursday’s 14-race card will also feature a $10,000 Guaranteed Pick-4 in Races 3-6. With a daily post time of 6:30 p.m., live racing at Hoosier Park will be conducted through December 4. For more information on the upcoming entertainment and live racing schedule, please visit www.harrahshoosierpark.com.
(Hoosier Park)