Harrington, DE---Jim Morand entered the record books Tuesday (June 3) at Harrington Raceway, becoming just the 15th driver in North American harness racing history to reach 9,000 wins.
Morand, 49, who drove three winners on the program, achieved the milestone win aboard Brenda Teague’s Remus Blue Chip ($17.80) in the 13th race.
Morand, a native of Windsor, Ont., learned harness racing under the tutelage of his stepfather, Gerry Bookmyer, after moving to Ohio at a young age. He’s driven such top horses as Little Brown Jug elimination winner Kiev Hanover, Nuclear Breeze, 2004 Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue and Stampede Hanover. “I’ve been lucky to drive a lot of good horses over the years for a lot of great people,” said Morand in the winner’s circle. “We moved to Delaware shortly after the slots came and it’s a nice place to live." Before making the move to Delaware, Morand spent most of his career at Rosecroft Raceway, where he dominated the Maryland circuit for many years. His wife, Melanie, and three children, sons Kyle and James and daughter Olivia, were on hand to see their father reach hallowed ground. Prior to Morand, Ron Pierce was the last to reach 9,000 wins in 2013. Another driving milestone was reached on the Harrington program as Bret Brittingham drove his 2,000th winner aboard Fleeting Flirt N ($5.80) in the ninth race. Brittingham has been a regular on the Delaware circuit for years along with his father, trainer Don Brittingham. The Brittingham stable has trained three recent Horse of the Meet winners at Harrington, including As Bad As Thunder, Raritan Bay and Artciano. Driver George Dennis also had a driving triple on the program.