Happy Hooligan won the 11th race at Plainridge Park on Tuesday, Aug. 5 to give Mike Graffam his 1,000th training win.
Happy Hooligan took a brief tuck in the pocket before swinging to the front before the quarter, then had no problem completing the front-end mission, cruising to a three-length victory in 1:59.3. Summer Prayer (Bruce Ranger) finished second, followed by Uncle Peters Crew (Drew Monti). Mike Graffam's 1,000th career training win was also a major family affair as his son Nick drove the winner, who is owned by his daughter-in-law Natalie and was paddocked by his daughter Beth. The win was the 11-year-old Noble Venture-Sassy Cathy gelding's 16th career tally in 125 starts.
Mike Graffam’s training career kicked off in 1991. He currently has 1,146 seconds and 1,209 thirds to go with his 1,000 wins, and he has accrued earnings just shy of $8.3 million. Graffam’s most prolific years were 2021 and 2023, when he sent 63 winners postward, and his highest earnings total came in 2023 when his students amassed $837,110. Mike Graffam's first year in harness racing was 1981, when he began driving and went 0-24 in that first year. But he soon saw success, and he continued to drive regularly for nearly 40 years. He has posted 510 wins, 592 seconds, and 708 thirds in the bike with earnings of more than $2.3 million.
Racing has always been a family affair for Graffam, who has operated and trained out of the historic Norton Farm in Falmouth, Maine since the 1990s. The farm is a pre-Revolutionary War site that has been in Graffam’s family since before Loring Norton, Mike’s grandfather, began training horses there. And the family has been running the stable, as Mike Graffam’s second trainer is his daughter Bethany, and his main driver is his son, Nick. The majority of the horses they race are homebreds who compete in the Maine and Massachusetts state series before earning their way in overnights as older horses.
Graffam’s best stake horse has been the homebred 25-time winner Wolverina, who was the Maine champion pacing filly at two and three, has registered a win percentage of 33.8 per cent, is in the money 60.8 per cent of the time, and has deposited $387,243 into Graffam’s coffers.
A pair of $29,166 trots were featured at on the 11-race card with both winners coming from off the pace.
First, in the conditioned trot for six-year-olds and under, the sophomore Massachusetts-bred Moni Man got his second win of the season off a perfect trip. Moni Man (Nick Graffam) followed Apple Fritter (Mitchell Cushing) through quarters of :28.1, :57.2 and 1:26 before the race entered the final turn. It was there that Graffam tipped Moni Man out, and the gelding fired down the lane to win by a half-length in 1:55.1. International Law (Shawn Gray) closed for second over Crypto Cash (James Hardy).
Moni Man ($8), trained by Paul Kelley, is owned by Paul Kelley Racing Stable, Matthew Lamont, Go For Glory Stable and VIP Internet Stable. The son of Walner-Touch Of Moni will likely be competing in the Massachusetts Breeders Stakes that begin in September at Plainridge Park. He is now two-for-nine this year and has won five of 19 career starts.
Then, in the mid-level condition trot, Busting With Pride followed cover to his second consecutive victory. Cruising Tom (Matty Athearn) led the field through fractions of :28.1 and :57.3 before an outer flow led by Stonebridge Bomber (Kevin Switzer Jr.) formed, with Busting With Pride (Drew Monti) one out and one back and loaded with trot at three-quarters in 1:26.3. As the race entered the stretch, Monti tipped Busting With Pride three-deep, and the Resolve-Bustingattheseams gelding flew down the lane and won by two lengths in 1:55.2. Grateful (Cushing) surged to take the place spot from Stonebridge Bomber.
The win was the fifth of the year in 14 attempts for Busting With Pride ($6.80), who is trained by Jackie Greene and owned by Jackie Greene Stables and Kellogg Racing Stables. The five-year-old is 15-for-73 lifetime.
There were some big prices paid out at The Ridge on Tuesday, led by Sangria Girl (Drew Campbell, 1:56.1), who won the fifth race and paid $93.80 to win.
There was also a 20-cent Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta combination of 4-6-2-1-7 in the ninth race that paid $2,902.32.
Driver Nick Graffam scored a hat trick on Tuesday.
Live harness racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Thursday at 4 p.m.
(With files from Plainridge Park; photo of Mike Graffam (center) with his son Nick and daughter Beth)