Harness racing driver Steve Wiseman became the sulky sport's newest $10 million dollar man on Saturday night (July 8) at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack.
Wiseman entered tonight's program needing to pick up less than $6,000 in purses to cross into the eight-figures club.
Wiseman opened up the night by picking up fifth-place money in race one with 17-1 longshot Turbo Girl, and then he quickly found the winner's circle with 16-1 longshot Tame The Dice in race two in a 1:57.3 lifetime-best mile. Next, Wiseman steered 9-1 outsider Deweydiddonegood to a third-place finish in race three, which pushed him very close to the magic number, but the magic would come quickly after, as he guided 4-5 favourite Mystic Flower to a 1:57 lifetime mark in race four to eclipse the $10 million career purse earnings mark.
Wiseman would then go on to get to work on his next milestone by picking up another win on the card to complete a hat trick on the evening by helping Hollyrock Heyden post a dazzling 1:52 mile for a lifetime best at 9-2 on the board in race six.
The milestone is just another stepping stone in an impressive career that now spans some 25 years in the sulky for the 49-year-old Wiseman, who is highly regarded as not only a very talented reinsman, but a very good all-around horseman and an even better person.
Wiseman, along with his team, including his wife (and trainer) Kathie Plested, and his daughter, Tyler Wiseman, keep a stable of around 20 racehorses year round, which keeps them quite busy. On most nights at Running Aces, the hard-working Wiseman barn has anywhere from four to eight horses entered, and Steve is usually down to drive in most, if not all, of the races on each night's card.
Wiseman is from a long line of talented horsemen from the pacific northwest and was born in Bellingham, Washington. His father Raleigh was a top campaigner and a fixture at tracks in California and at fairs in Washington state as well and campaigned a small stable at Cal Expo up until his death in 2006. There is no doubt that he was smiling down on Steve tonight.
Wiseman started driving in 1993, and has raced all over North America, but has settled into racing mostly at Running Aces in the summer months and Cal Expo in the fall, winter and spring for the past few years. He posted his biggest year in wins in 2009 with 254, and purses in 2010 with $760,675.
In other action, Swinging Again ($7) was victorious again in the $8,000 Minnesota-Sired three-year-old filly event, posting a sharp first-over victory by one length in 1:54 with driver James (J.D.) Yoder in the sulky for trainer Gene Miller and owner Wolfswinkel Pacers.
Steves Hot Rod ($14.40) captured the $8,000 Minnesota-Sired male pace with a gate-to-wire effort after stealing very soft fractions on the front end (:29, 1:00.2, and 1:29). Driver Rick Magee was able to put the field to sleep and had plenty of gas left in the tank to defeat the big favourite Wonder Bull (Nick Roland) in 1:57. He is owned by Kati Sokolowski and trained by David Flinn.
(With files from Running Aces)