by Dave Bianconi, publicity director, Northfield Park
Northfield, OH —
The 34-year-old Pandora, Ohio native tied the world record for wins on a single racing program at a pari-mutuel racetrack with the feat. The other drivers who previously reached the 10 win plateau at a commercial track are Walter Case, Jr. (twice at Northfield) in 1999 and 2002 and Dave Palone at The Meadows (Pennsylvania) in 1999.
After sitting on the sidelines without a drive in the opening race of the night, Grismore collected his first victory of the evening in the second race with pacer Call The Wind (paid $3.60 for a $2 win wager).
He steered the show finisher in the night’s third race, and then rattled off scores with Osborne’s Trick ($10.40) and Vytis ($3.20) in the next two events.
He finished fourth with his next drive, before capturing his fourth win of the night with Doctor Rodney ($4.80) in Nortfhield’s seventh race.
He finished second with his next assignment, leaving him with four wins through the first eight races on the card.
He would not be denied again through the final six events on the 14 race program.
The streak started with Go For It ($10.00), followed by Up Front Ohio ($8.80), H T Cat N ($3.40) and Shy Wally A ($5.20) — giving him eight wins with two races left.
He then lowered the track record for three-year-old pacing geldings with Eric Hamlet-trainee Sharky Osborne ($3.20). They stopped the timer in 1:523 to eclipse the previous record by one-fifth of a second. That mark was set by the richest pacer in the history of harness racing, Gallo Blue Chip, in a division of the Miller Lite Cleveland Classic in 2000.
His tenth driving win came behind pacer Falcon Appeal ($6.80) in the 14th and final race on the card.
In a post race interview, Grismore said “I would like to thank all the trainers I drove for tonight — the horses were just super to drive.”
He added he’d like to build upon the feat by winning Northfield’s signature event, the 19th Annual $125,000 Battle of Lake Erie Invitational Pace on Saturday, June 12.
Grismore will drive Northfield’s 2003 co-horse of the year Cambest Prince in the Battle.
With the 10-bagger, Grismore increased his seasonal victory total to 289, good for third place among all North American reinsmen. He easily leads the local standings with 285 triumphs at Northfield thus far in 2004.