Plainville, MA — When Leave It To Luther (1:53.1, $4.20) won the fourth race at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (Oct. 20), it vaulted longtime New England horseman Randy Bickmore to the 2,000th training win of his career.
Bickmore, who was born in Bangor, Maine, and now resides in Scarborough, Maine, started out in the business as a driver at age 18, when he was first licensed in 1984. Bickmore drove regularly for seven years before getting his training license until 1991, and then he actively did both for about six years until cutting back his sulky duties in 1997. And with the exception of 2001 and 2002, when he did drive full time once again, he has concentrated primarily on training from 2003 to today. Bickmore did drive in two amateur races this year after an eight-year hiatus from the lines.
Looking at his training career to date, Bickmore now has 2,000 wins, 1,782 second-place finishes and 1,557 third-place finishes from 11,635 starts, with earnings of $7,726,567 and a .302 lifetime UTR. He had career high wins (165) in 2009 and his best earnings ($548,037) came in 2012.
This year at Plainridge, Bickmore is currently the ninth leading trainer for wins with 21, and his 20 second-place finishes and 22 third-place finishes have his earnings totals at $258,470 for the meet. Bickmore was named Trainer of the Month in August at Plainridge Park after posting six wins, three seconds and five thirds from 28 starts, earning him a .333 UTR.
Bickmore also races regularly at tracks across Maine.
Aside from his impressive training accomplishments, Bickmore’s career driving numbers are not to be overlooked. He has 527 wins, 586 seconds and 610 thirds from 4,427 starts, giving him a lifetime UDR of .239 and $702,049 in earnings.