October 2009 Top Harness Racing Drivers and Trainers

Here is a completely unofficial ranking of the top North American standardbred drivers and trainers, based on who has been hitting the board regularly in recent weeks and months, with preference for wins in bigger races.

HOT Drivers and Trainers in BOLD

Top 25 Drivers

Tim Tetrick
Brian Sears
David M Palone
Jody Jamieson
Mark Macdonald
James Morrill Jr
Randy Waples
David Miller
Sylvain Filion
Jason Bartlett
George Brennan
Andy Miller
Mario Baillargeon
Ron Pierce
Yannick Gingras
Brad Forward
Anthony Morgan
Aaron Merriman
Richard Zeron
Paul Macdonell
Peter Wrenn
Joshua Marks
John Campbell
Corey Callahan
Cat Manzi
Anthony Morgan



Top 25 Trainers

Ronald Burke
Tracy Brainard
Casie Coleman
Jimmy Takter
Julie Miller
Ervin Miller
Joshua Green
George Teague Jr
Benoit Baillargeon
Mark Kesmodel
Robert Mcintosh
Rene Allard
Richard Moreau
John Kopas
Mark Harder
Linda Toscano
Christopher Oakes
Keith Clark
Noel Daley
Kenneth Rucker
Joe Anderson
Kevin McMaster
Sebastien Giroux
Greg McNair
Darren McCall

WEG Harness Racing News; Brainard, Zeron among HOT TRAINERS

Tracy Brainard has re-emerged as the hottest trainer on the Woodbine Entertainment Group harness racing circuit, and Rick Zeron has made the most of limited starts to rocket up the charts.

Takter, Fellows, McIntosh, Kopas, McCall and Camirand have posted great numbers the past few weeks, while Baillergeon remains his steady Eddy self.

W H O ‘ S H O T AT WEG - TRAINERS

Last 15 Days 03/9/2009 thru 21/9/2009

TRAINERS Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% UTRS

Tracy L Brainard 36 8 5 7 22.2 .364

Jimmy W Takter 28 6 4 4 21.4 .341

Benoit O Baillargeon 37 5 9 0 13.5 .270

Robert Don Fellows 29 5 4 4 17.2 .295

John R Kopas 20 5 1 3 25.0 .328

Robert A McIntosh 34 5 6 3 14.7 .275

Richard Zeron 18 5 5 2 27.8 .469

Darren James McCall 11 4 1 0 36.4 .414

Marc R Camirand 7 3 0 0 42.9 .429

Casie Coleman 31 3 3 3 9.7 .183


Last 20 Days 27/8/2009 thru 21/9/2009

TRAINERS Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% UTRS

Tracy L Brainard 47 9 10 9 19.1 .374

Benoit O Baillargeon 50 8 10 0 16.0 .271

Robert A McIntosh 52 8 10 5 15.4 .293

John R Kopas 29 7 1 5 24.1 .318

Richard Zeron 23 7 6 3 30.4 .493

Robert Don Fellows 36 6 4 5 16.7 .275

Jimmy W Takter 28 6 4 4 21.4 .341

Casie Coleman 45 5 3 3 11.1 .170

Darren James McCall 15 5 1 1 33.3 .393

Marc R Camirand 10 4 1 0 40.0 .456


As you can see, the Coleman barn has been uncharacteristically weak these past 20 days, but I do not have any insight as to whether a specific malady affected the full team. In any case, Coleman horses rebounding off of troubled races may come at decent odds if up against vulnerable faves. Casie runs one of the hardest-working and most professional barns in the harness racing world and she remains among the leading Canadian standardbred trainers by wins, UDRS and money won, and part of the recent low WEG numbers can be attributed to her star pupils competing in OSS events across Ontario.

Top NA Harness Racing Drivers and Trainers

August 2009 Top Standardbred Drivers and Trainers

Here is my unofficial list of the top horsemen in North American Standardbred Racing as of right now:

Top 20 Drivers

Tim Tetrick
Brian Sears
David M Palone
Jody Jamieson
James Morrill Jr
Randy Waples
David Miller
Sylvain Filion
Jason Bartlett
George Brennan
Andy Miller
Mario Baillargeon
Ron Pierce
Steve Condren
Yannick Gingras
Brad Forward
Anthony Morgan
Aaron Merriman
Richard Zeron
Peter Wrenn




Top 20 Trainers


Casie Coleman
Ronald Burke
Julie Miller
Ervin Miller
Tracy Brainard
Jimmy Takter
George Teague Jr
Benoit Baillargeon
Mark Kesmodel
Robert Mcintosh
Rene Allard
Richard Moreau
Joshua Green
Mark Harder
Linda Toscano
Christopher Oakes
Keith Clark
Noel Daley
Kenneth Rucker
Joe Anderson