The winningest driver in the track's history dating to 1964 has become the first reinsman at the meet to surpass 400 total drives $500,000 in purses since the current meet began last September 21. Ranger, 52, is the first driver at the meet to surpass 80 winners for a 25 win lead over Mike Micallef, Ed Hensley, and Wally Hennessey.
Last year marked the first time that Ranger did not reach $1 million in driving purses since 1998 due to a severe shoulder separation and multiple injuries suffered in an April racing accident which kept him out of bike duty for almost five months, yet he still posted driving purses of $986,557 in 2011.
Also of note from Ranger's 2011 scorecard was the fact he did not have an official training start, instead deferring the stable's training designation to Stewart Nemiro. The Bruce Ranger Stable raked in over $373,000 in training purses last year, with more than half of that total accounted for by Open trotter Keystone Thomas (over $113,000) and two year old Florida bred divisional champion Matcan (over $76,000).
Post time is 7:15 p.m. Eastern every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at The Winter Capital Of Harness Racing. Free race night live streaming, nightly handicapping selections by John Berry, and replays are in the 'racing' tab at www.theislepompanopark.com along with the full season racing schedule through July.
