Alex Lilley went on a winning spree at Leamington Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 13 to reach a career driving milestone.
Winning his first four drives on the afternoon program, Lilley reached the 1,000th career win mark
The milestone moment for Lilley came in the afternoon's seventh race when he guided the $7,000 claiming pacer Jimmy Hooffa to a 5-1/4-length victory in 1:58.1 for trainer Dennis Belan and co-owners Doug Belan and Brian Fitzgerald. Sent postward as the 3-5 favourite, the four-year-old Big Jim-Campassion gelding took a new lifetime mark while picking up his second win of the Leamington meet.
Lilley and Jimmy Hooffa retook the lead from longshot Wildcard Bet (Anthony Hamlin) at the half-mile mark just before that rival and the oncoming Scottish Cheddar (Robert Doyle) hooked wheels in the turn causing commotion and leaving open road ahead for the eventual winner. Mostly Dali (David Edwards) finished second and Its Tricky (Garrett Rooney) rounded out the top three.
Lilley has made driving appearances at the Hiawatha Horse Park, Dresden Raceway and Leamington Raceway meets this summer and his grand slam on Sunday doubled his seasonal win count. The 43-year-old Dutton, Ont. horseman earned his first victory in 2003 and has topped the 100-win mark in a single season on three occasions, with a career-high 129 victories in 2012. He has driven winners of more than $6.1 million lifetime.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Leamington Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)