NEWS
Trainer Seeger notches 1,000th career victory at Philadelphia Park
Posted: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 11:51 AM
Trainer Robert Seeger earned his 1,000th career win on Tuesday at Philadelphia Park when Sambumbe (Chi) drove clear to a 4 3/4-length victory in the tenth and final race on the card.
Seeger, who primarily trains his own horses, is one of the top trainers in Philadelphia Park history with 835 wins at the Bensalem, Pennsylvania, track during his 20-year-career.
“It really kind of sneaks up on you,” Seeger said of the milestone. “It’s not like you sit down at the start and say, 'I’m going to win a thousand races.' You’re diligent, do your work, and the numbers start to add up. Seemed like we hit a wall as we got close, but we finally got it done.”
Sambumbe stalked the pace under jockey Frankie Pennington in the seven-furlong claiming race for older horses, seized command in midstretch, and surged clear as the 2.10-to-1 favorite to cement the milestone win for Seeger.
“It provides a great deal of satisfaction to see your own horses grow, mature, and win races for you. I breed my own horses, raise my own horses, break my own horses,” Seeger said. “I’ve raced many, but I have a particular fondness for Tri for the Gold. No question the horse was better than his trainer, but he taught me so much.”
Tri for the Gold won ten of 43 starts in four seasons from 1992-’95 and earned $283,131. A Seeger homebred, the bay Triocala horse won six stakes races, including a victory in the 1993 Garden State Stakes (G3) as a three-year-old.
“When you’ve been in the business as long as I have, you learn what works and what doesn’t,” Seeger said. “I’d like to think that over the years I’ve developed a philosophy about the way I conduct my business, and you can only hope that philosophy is a winning one.”
