by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Dave Palone, the leading driver at The Meadows Racetrack, is now nine wins away from being the leading harness driver in the world. He won twice on Monday and has 16,745 wins at the end of racing on Nov. 10.

The current record of 16,753 wins is held by Heinz Wewering of Germany, so Palone needs eight to tie him and nine to surpass him and take the record. Wewering had been at 16,751 as of Sunday (Nov. 9), but two recent wins were recorded Monday morning, moving him to 16,753. Wewering has no more drives until at least Friday of this week.

Wewering, who is 64, trains about two dozen horses and his wins have come almost exclusively from horses he also trains. He has been German driving champion 29 times and twice won the World Driving Championship.

Palone has 12 more drives on Tuesday and nine on Wednesday, so it is possible the record-tying and breaking wins could come in the next few days. While Wewering continues to compete, the rate of his wins is declining substantially, while Palone’s have remained consistent, making it unlikely the record will change hands between those two.