BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Friday, June 23, 2017—Driver
Brent Holland won the 5,000th race of his career Friday night (June
23th), doing so at his place of residence, Yonkers Raceway.
Holland and Delightful Dragon ($7.40)
lasted on the lead by a scant schnoz in the 6th race $40,000 Filly
and Mare Preferred Handicap Pace, giving the 46-year-old (as of this past
Sunday) the milestone (season’s-best 1:53.2) mile.
The affable Holland is a native of Wilmington, OH, who
began working with horses for a neighbor, Maynard Hagemeyer. "He and Bob
Farrington in Chicago both taught me a lot," Holland said. His first
winner came in in his first parimutuel start, as an 18-year-old with longshot E
C's Best in 1989 at Lebanon Raceway..."pouring down rain," he said.
"When I won my first, I used to look up to all the great drivers and never
thought about a number like 5,000," Holland said.
Asked for some winner’s circle wit, Holland offered that
‘The horse did all the work.’ In the case, the hard-working lass—now 4-for-18
this season—is a 6-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight owned and trained by
Noel Daley.
Holland, who migrated east from the Chicagoland circuit not
quite a decade ago, has more than $54.2 million in career purses. He was joined
by his wife, Dee, and friends for a winner's circle presentation.
