Chris Page drove from his hometown of Mount Vernon, Ohio to Northfield Park on Monday, July 8 needing three wins to reach the 2,000 career-win milestone.
The program started and Page went right to work, winning three of the first six races on the card. He won the $6,000 Open Trot with Saintfrancis in Race 2, the $6,000 Open Pace with Bruisen N Cruisen in Race 5 and his 2,000th career win came aboard Midnight Dragon in Northfield Park’s sixth race.
Midnight Dragon went off as the 1-2 betting choice and took the lead right off the gate. The pair never had an anxious moment at any point in the mile and won by six and a half lengths, posting fractions of :27.1, :56.2, 1:25.4 and 1:54.4. The win marked the third consecutive win for the four-year-old pacer.
Page is not from a 'horse family.' Neither of his parents have ever been involved in harness racing. His love for horses began when he started helping his cousin, Tom Hall, work in his stable at the Knox County Fairgrounds. His love for the sport was cemented when he attended his first Little Brown Jug. “That was the year that Life Sign won,” recalled Page, “It was an epic Jug and is one of the best races ever.”
Page drove his first race in 2000, finishing sixth in a $900 FFA pace at the Knox County Fair. He won his first race in 2001 at the Champaign County fair aboard Titanic Fella. Page graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 2002 and then attended The Ohio State University.
Page’s driving career started blossoming in 2006 and he has since driven several sub-1:50 miles and has driven his mounts to over $7.5 million in purses. His richest win is a $100,000 Ohio Sires Stake final, which he has won three times. He credits his favourite horse he has ever driven as being Carlys Crown, “She was the best trotting filly in Ohio that year,” explained Page, “I was still young. I hadn’t driven many good horses and she was really a lot of fun.” Carlys Crown had eight starts as a freshman, winning six times and finishing second twice, earning $114,263.
Page, 29, says his career goals are to stay in Ohio and drive at Northfield Park and Scioto Downs. Page is the current leading driver at Northfield and is third in the standings at Scioto. “I have travelled a lot and have driven at a lot of tracks,” said Page, “At this point of my life, I am glad I can stay home. Slots are coming to Northfield and Scioto is a place where horsemen can make a decent living now.”
Page says he most admires and looks up to Brian Sears and Dave Palone. “They are both great drivers. Sears is just phenomenal and the amount of respect that Palone commands on the racetrack is incredible.”
The white and blue colours of Page were also in the winner’s circle in the evening’s seventh race aboard Action SJ. That win represents career win 2,001, as Page has already begun building upon his next career milestone.
(Northfield)