from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — When racing resumes Friday night for the final two programs of 2006, there is little doubt who has dominated the driving colony for both the fall meet and the entire year at the Meadowlands — Brian Sears.

Through 19 of 21 programs, Sears leads the way with 47 victories, 20 more than Yannick Gingras in second place. Combining statistics for the January through August meet with the fall season, Sears has 339 victories to 236 for Ron Pierce.

Four of Sears’ stakes wins at the Meadowlands this year were with Sand Vic, a finalist for Older Trotter of the Year, who captured the Cutler, Titan Cup, Breeders Crown Open Trot and Nat Ray.

Sears also won the Breeders Crown Open Pace with Lis Mara, who was voted the Dan Patch Award as Older Pacing Horse of the Year.

Sears’ other stakes wins at the Meadowlands in 2006 included the Aquarius with Jenna’s Choice, Exit 16W with Deliver The Goods, Hiram Woodruff with Corleone Kosmos, Stanley Dancer with Mr Pine Chip and the Tarport Hap with My Little Dragon, a finalist for 3-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year.

In 2006, Sears also broke a track record that had lasted for 20 years. From March 3 to May 18, he won at least one race for 48 consecutive programs, eclipsing the 47-program streak set by John Campbell in 1986. Sears’ skein was snapped on Friday, May 19, when he had six seconds from 12 drives.

Fall Meet Top Drivers, Starts, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Win %, Earnings

Brian Sears, 193, 47, 22, 29, 24%, $780,060

Yannick Gingras, 169, 27, 22, 27, 16%, $547,767

Ron Pierce, 173, 26, 26, 26, 15%, $697,753

David Miller, 184, 22, 28, 20, 12%, $1,165,476

George Brennan, 135, 19, 21, 20, 14%, $641,353

Andy Miller, 166, 16, 32, 20, 10%, $466,581

Cat Manzi, 173, 16, 20, 16, 9%, $307,599

Daniel Dube, 170, 12, 15, 23, 7%, $366,348

Combined Leaders, Starts, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Win %, Earnings, Total Wins, Total Purses

Brian Sears, 1634, 339, 243, 221, 21%, $7,333,047, 433, $11,439,087

Ron Pierce, 1557, 236, 194, 191, 15%, $6,954,958, 456, $14,439,087

George Brennan, 1441, 208, 198, 179, 14%, $4,915,198, 339, $9,006,143

Yannick Gingras, 1399, 172, 184, 176, 12%, $3,643,097, 368, $7,135,242

Cat Manzi, 1380, 154, 161, 158, 11%, $4,236,714, 685, $7,860,920

David Miller, 1551, 151, 169, 185, 10%, $5,209,413, 367, $10,162,260

John Campbell, 1150, 133, 131, 143, 12%, $5,088,586, 183, $8,790,864

Andy Miller, 1089, 89, 123, 122, 8%, $2,614,010, 405, $5,835,704

Combined leaders are the merged stats from the Meadowlands January through August meet with the fall meet. Total wins and total purse stats are for 2006 in North America. All stats are through December 27.