2002 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
BOUCHARD DRIVER OF YEAR
Stephane Bouchard, a 35-year-old native of Quebec
now living in Little Ferry, NJ, and racing primarily
at Yonkers Raceway in New York, has won
harness racing’s most difficult award for driving,
Harness Tracks of America’s Driver of the Year.
January 22, 2002
John Campbell, harness racing’s all-time moneywinning
leader with more than $200 million won by
his mounts, finished 10 th , leading the continent in
money winnings for the 14 th time with $14,184,863,
but failing to make the top 25 in percentage standings.
Based on races won, money won and in-the-money
percentage, the competition requires a driver to
finish in the top 25 in North America in all three
categories. Last year, of 5,591 drivers who raced
in the United States and Canada, only 5 were able
to accomplish that goal.
Under the HTA formula, 25 points are awarded
for finishing first in each of the three categories,
down to 1 for finishing 25 th , with a 25-point bonus
awarded for finishing in the top 25 in all three.
Bouchard was 2d on the continent in races won
with 753 winning drives, 14 th in money won by his
mounts with $5,090,468, and 6 th in percentage
standings, finishing first, second or third in more
than half of the 3,411 races in which he drove.
The percentage statistic was remarkable in view
of the fact that Bouchard’s 3,411 drives in 2001
were the most of any driver in North America last
year, making him the busiest as well as the highest
ranking in the sport.
Bouchard’s accomplishments earned him 81 points.
Chris Christoforou, Ontario’s brilliant 30-year-old
standout, and his archrival Randy Waples, finished
in a dead heat for second with 77 points, their totals
as close as their annual competition for top
honors on the highly competitive circuit at Woodbine
in Toronto and Mohawk Raceway in
Campbellville, Ontario. Sylvain Filion, another
Quebec star, finished fourth with 76 points,
and the western Pennsylvania perennial
leader Dave Palone, HTA’s Driver of the
Year in 1999 and 2000, rounded out the top
five with 72 points.
Bouchard, who spent his formative years driving
in Canada, Italy, Germany and Florida, has been
around horses all his life. His father was a barrel
racer, and Stephane began competing in rodeos in
Quebec when he was only 10 years old. He spent
his first years at Hippodrome de Montreal, working
for trainer Pierre Touchette, and then for
trainer Paul Gauthier. When Gauthier died, his
wife gave Bouchard her husband’s green and white
silks, and those have been his colors ever since.
He rose steadily from 1989 on, and in 2000 he
burst into prominence at Yonkers, winning 671
races to finish second in the U.S and Canada, and
was named Rising Star of the Year by the U.S.
Harness Writers Association. Last year he rose
to the top. His Driver of the Year trophy will be
presented during the Night of Stars at the Harness
Racing Congress in Las Vegas Thursday
night, February 21.
The top 10 in 2001:
Wins $$ Av. Pts
1. Stephane Bouchard 753 $5,090,468 .354 81
2. Chris Christoforou 622 9,570,998 .326 77
2. Randy Waples 550 10,636,348 .323 77
4. Sylvain Filion 463 5,830,873 .352 76
5. Dave Palone 642 3,493,971 .389 72
6. Walter Case 801 3,248,964 .417 49
7. Brian Sears 485 3,008,946 .359 38
8. David Miller 457 10,551,102 .286 36
9.Luc Ouellette 378 10,006,054 .278 28
9.John Campbell
340 14,184,863 .300 28