by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — When it comes to winning, Yannick Gingras and Foiled Again keep rolling along.

The 32-year-old Gingras entered Wednesday needing 21 wins to reach 4,000 victories in his driving career. The 8-year-old Foiled Again entered the week with 59 lifetime triumphs and his next win will break a tie with Riyadh and Red Bow Tie for the most victories by pacers with at least $2.5 million in earnings.

Gingras and Foiled Again have won 37 times together, including in last weekend’s second round of the George Morton Levy Pacing Series at Yonkers Raceway. The third round of the series is Saturday.

“Those are nice numbers, for sure,” Gingras said. “When you start a career, you’re hoping you win a thousand (races). Then 2,000 and you just hope you keep going.”

USTA/Ed Keys photo

Yannick Gingras is 21 wins away from 4,000 in his career.

Gingras, who was the 2003 Rising Star Award winner as voted upon by the U.S. Harness Writers Association, won 421 races last year to go with a career-high $11.96 million in purses. The previous year, he set his career best for victories, with 493, and earned $11.21 million.

This season, Gingras is the leading driver at the Meadowlands, with 74 triumphs, and second at Harrah’s Chester. He ranks No. 13 in wins in North America, with 111, and No. 7 in purses, with $1.57 million.

For all his success, Gingras marveled at the career of Dave Palone, who last week became only the second driver in North American harness racing history to reach 15,000 wins.

“That’s unbelievable,” Gingras said. “It’s a huge number. I’m looking at 4,000 and thinking it’s a lot, and it’s like 25 percent of what he’s got.”

Of course, Gingras has plenty of time to rise through the sport’s all-time standings, as does Foiled Again.

Foiled Again is no stranger to making history. Last season, he won 14 of 28 starts and $1.40 million for trainer Ron Burke and owners Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and JJK Stables. He became, at age 7, the oldest pacer to earn at least $1 million in a season on his way to capturing the Dan Patch Award as best older male pacer and overall Pacer of the Year.

For his career, Foiled Again has won 59 of 147 races and earned $3.45 million.

Rambling Willie is the leader in wins among all harness racing horses in North America with career earnings of $1 million or more. There have been others to have won more races overall, but with much less in money won. The pacer, who was victorious 128 times during his Hall of Fame career in the 1970s, earned $2.03 million in his career and is joined by Cam Fella, who won 61 races and banked $2.04 million lifetime, as the only pacers with more than $2 million in purses and more wins than Foiled Again.

Add trotters and only Moni Maker and Peace Corps join the list.

Tom Berg photo

Foiled Again was a 1:51 winner last Saturday in the Levy series at Yonkers Raceway.

“Not many people can say they’ve seen a horse like that, let alone be lucky enough to drive him,” Gingras said of Foiled Again. “He’s definitely a special individual. He’s got a will that not many other horses have, that’s for sure. He’s not the biggest horse, he’s not the quickest horse, but he’s got the biggest heart.

“He gives you everything he’s got every time he goes on the racetrack. You’ve got to appreciate a horse like that. I definitely don’t take him for granted.”

Foiled Again and Gingras finished second to Real Nice in his first race of the year, which came in the opening round of the Levy Series. He was beaten by a half-length in 1:51.1.

Last week, Foiled Again won his second-round division by 2-1/4 lengths over Blatantly Good in 1:51.

“It’s unbelievable to come back that quickly and be that sharp,” Gingras said. “The first week I thought he raced huge to finish second. The other horse was race ready; there was no shame in finishing second to him. Last week I thought he got a great trip, but he came up with a big performance; (1):51 flat at Yonkers is nothing to sneeze at.”

Foiled Again won the Levy series title in 2010 and 2009. Gingras knows that adding another crown will be challenging, but Foiled Again appears ready to face the task.

“It’s not going to be a walk in the park,” Gingras said. “There are four or five horses in there that are really good. You’ve seen in the first two weeks, you have to go (1):51, so you have to earn it. They’re not going to give it to him. He’ll have to show up and race every week, that’s for sure.

“But he’s been good every year. He finishes every year really strong and he seems to start the following year just as strong. He’s 8 years old now and he’s probably as good as he’s ever been. I’m very excited to have him back.”