Driver Dave Palone is on the verge of making history Thursday at the Meadows Racetrack near Pittsburgh.
Palone is just two wins away from passing Herve Filion’s mark of 15,180 career victories to become the winningest driver in North American harness racing history.
Filion, who has held the record since 1971, will be on hand to congratulate Palone when he makes history.
“It’s been a dream of mine to even be mentioned [with Herve],” Palone said. “He’s just a legend. One of a kind.”
And even though he’s so close, the reality of what Palone is doing has not quite hit him yet.
“To me, that tag is always going to be Herve Filion’s,” Palone said. “When you stop and think about the numbers, 15,000, that’s a pretty sick number.”
Palone, who has ruled the Meadows for 23 straight years, has 14 chances to find the winner’s circle on the post-holiday race card and he averages more than three wins per card.
“I want to get to it first before I get too excited because I’ve seen it happen before where you get stuck on a number and it drags out and drags out, but the last couple hundred wins have been so fast. I’ve been on a pretty good roll lately,” he said.
The 50-year-old Pennsylvania native lives just four miles from the Meadows and has made it clear that he wanted to break the record at his home track in front of the horsemen and fans who’ve supported him throughout his career. And perhaps his biggest fan and best friend, track announcer Roger Huston, will have the honor of announcing that special race.
“It would mean a lot to me and I’d love to have Roger call the race,” Palone said. “He’s been so important to me my whole career. It’s a nice payback to him that I do it here. It wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t do it here. This is home.”
“I’ve enjoyed this run and all the publicity, but I’ll tell you the truth, I’ll be glad when I get there,” he added.