by Greg Gangle, WEG media

Toronto, ON — It was early last year that Rick Zeron knew he had a pair of special fillies in his barn. Now after their freshman year is complete, Lady Rainbow and Peach Martini have delivered as expected with combined earnings of nearly $500,000 for the Oakville, Ontario trainer/driver.

Zeron, 58, is once again a finalist for this year’s O’Brien Award for Horsemanship. He celebrated a career year in 2010 as a trainer with $1,680,995 in purse earnings. As a driver, Zeron has surpassed $1 million every year since 1988 and earned $5,553,413 last year with 257 trips to the winner’s circle.

WEG’s media department recently spoke to the veteran horseman and he offered his thoughts on this past year.

“What comes to mind (thinking about this past year) was around March of last year when I phoned my partners and I said that I think we have two special fillies in Peach Martini and Lady Rainbow.”

Peach Martini, a daughter of Striking Sahbra, earned $289,068 this past season competing largely in the Ontario Sire Stakes while Lady Rainbow earned $209,633 racing mostly on the Grand Circuit.

Mostly known as a condition/claiming trainer, Zeron admits that he had to change the way his barn operates within the last five years.

“They don’t have as many claiming races here at WEG like they used to,” he commented. “The claiming conditions shrunk so I had to go to a different alternative to help make an income, so I went back to the yearlings.”

Zeron was also quick to admit his passion for the sport of harness racing and enjoys going to the barn every morning.

“I love the sport, that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “I really enjoy waking up every morning and going to the barn and fooling around with the guys that work for me and taking care of my stable. It gives me something to do during the day.”

Zeron’s son, Scott, is also a finalist for an O’Brien Award this year, as the 21-year-old will be looking to capture the prize as Canada’s top driver.

Without a doubt, the Zeron family have been looking forward to the 2010 O’Brien Awards for quite some time.

To watch the interview with Zeron on the Woodbine Entertainment website, click here.