from Harrah’s Philadelphia racing media

Chester, PA — Harness racing driver Tim Tetrick has long had a knack for rewriting the record books.

In Friday afternoon’s (Nov. 3) final race at Harrah’s Philadelphia, he did it again, becoming the youngest driver to win 10,000 races and doing so in partnership with Marcus Melander trainee Earl Variera ($2.60).

The Flora, Ill. native is now the 12th driver in the history of North American harness racing to reach the winner’s circle 10,000 times. Tetrick — who is just weeks shy of his 36th birthday — shattered the previous record: Walter Case Jr. was 40 when he earned his 10,000th victory in 2001 at Northfield Park.

Tetrick used inside position with Earl Variera to protect the third spot on the first turn before brushing to clear Thundering Lover (Øyvind Hegdal) and Photo Bomber (Tony Morgan) before reaching the midpoint of the one-mile race in :58.2. The 3-year-old son of Explosive Matter shrugged off a first-over bid from Callmeboomer (Pat Berry) on the far turn before edging away by a driven 2-1/4 lengths in 1:58.2.

Born into a harness racing family, Tetrick started driving at county fairs in 1998 before making his pari-mutuel debut at Fairmount Park, just outside of St. Louis, in 2000. He has since gone on to win multiple high-profile races, including five Meadowlands Paces, 18 Breeders Crown events, and the 2012 Hambletonian with Market Share.

Tetrick additionally holds the record for most wins in a single year, having won 1,189 races in 2007. His single-season purse earnings record of $19,734,781 in 2008 accounts for one of seven seasons in the last ten in which “The Bionic Man” has amassed more than $15 million in purses.