Stephane Bouchard was one of the most dominant drivers in the sport of harness racing during the past decade. The Montreal native has been a winning machine basically from the start of his driving career and was the man at Yonkers Raceway and Monticello on a year in year out basis. From the years of 2003-2007, Bouchard was the leading driver at Yonkers, a rare “fivepeat” amongst reinsman at the top of the standings. While the talented pilot was piling up victories at night at the hilltop oval in Yonkers, he was also making trips to the winner’s circle during the day at Monticello. Bouchard is a rare driver to win titles at two different tracks at the same time. The 2001 National Driver of the Year, Bouchard had one of his best years in ’03 when he led North American drivers with 656 wins.
Bouchard’s winning ways continued throughout the decade and in ’05, he became the first Monticello driver to accrue $1 million in purses in a season. In his 2006 campaign at Monty, the sulky star piled up an incredible 410 victories en route to just shy of $2.75 million in purses. As he was dominating at Monticello, the talented Bouchard was the sulky star at Yonkers as well. The Canadian invader was the leading driver at Yonkers for five consecutive seasons from ’03-’07. In 2007, Bouchard had one of the great years in harness racing history when he won an eye-popping 814 races and earned more than $7.6 million in an incredible 4,000 starts.
After wrapping up a stretch in which he won at least 489 races every year from 2000-2008, Bouchard decided to come to Saratoga Casino and Raceway to compete. In previous seasons, the only time we would see Bouchard is when the New York Sire Stakes came to town. He turned his attention to the Spa in 2011 and while still competing at other tracks made Saratoga his main track that year. It is no surprise that since coming to town, Bouchard has thrived. Always in the top five in the driver standings, Bouchard finished last season second behind Billy Dobson who won the driver’s title for the fourth consecutive year.
Last weekend, Bouchard reached a plateau that very few in the history of harness racing ever have. The talented reinsman piloted his 8,000th lifetime winner on the Sunday matinee card. Bouchard was sitting behind favorite Lotto Winner and moved her to the lead in the early going. Having to survive a run in the stretch from one rival, Lotto Winner was good enough to give Bouchard the historic win. Joined by wife Eve, son Sam and a host of friends and supporters, Bouchard was recognized in the winner’s circle with a sign acknowledging the milestone and a gift certificate to Fortune’s Restaurant. By reaching the 8,000 plateau, Bouchard entered some rarified air. He became only the 25th harness driver to ever reach the 8,000 win mark. Considering the fact that Bouchard is just 47 years of age, the feat is even more impressive. He is one of the younger drivers to enter the 8,000 win club. And he certainly appears to have plenty left in the tank. Bouchard, who has accrued more than $70 million in purses in his sensational career thus far, attributes much of his success to hard work and persistence. He acknowledges that hitting a special milestone such as this is very rewarding. Congratulations to Bouchard, a talented reinsman and a class act, on tallying his 8,000th win.
The fact that there are only 25 drivers in the history of the sport to pilot 8,000 winners makes it even more impressive that two of those drivers were competing at Saratoga this weekend. This month marks the return of driver Wally Hennessey. The Hall of Fame driver competes at Pompano Park throughout the wintertime and races at the Spa through the spring and summer. Hennessey, who was inducted in the Living Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY in 2007, was recently enshrined in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The 57-year-old Hennessey hit the 8,000 win plateau a couple of years ago and now has piloted more than 8,500 winners. In his incredible career, Hennessey has accrued purses of more than $57 million and has displayed incredible consistency. The Saint Edward Island native has won 200 or more in each of the last 25 years. Talk about consistent. Hennessey returned to town this weekend and drove just one horse on Friday night. He wasted no time finding the winner circle as he made his first 2014 drive at the Spa a winning one. Hennessey joins Bouchard as Saratoga regulars with an amazing 8,000 lifetime victories in the sulky.
The best horse Hennessey has ever been involved with, Moni Maker, passed away this week. The all-time biggest money earner amongst trotters, Moni Maker piled up just shy of $5.6 in earnings in her illustrious career. Following a win in the prestigious trotting event the Elitloppet in Sweden in 1998 while sitting behind Moni Maker, Hennessey said he “now knows what it feels like to win the Super Bowl,” adding that it was the greatest thrill of his life. Moni Maker was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2006. She passed away last week at the age of 21.
Live racing takes place every Thursday through Saturday night with first post times set for 6:45 p.m. Sunday matinees take place beginning at 12:45 p.m. Until next week, I’m Mike Sardella wishing you the best of luck and we’ll see you at the finish line.