McDermott Gets 1,600th Career Win

A New Jersey training veteran achieved a milestone on Saturday at Freehold Raceway, as Kevin McDermott won his 1,600th career race. 

 

McDermott sent out Century Endeavor, who went off at 2/1 in a non-winners of $6,000 last five pace. Driver Pat Lachance put him on a comfortable early lead, and he never looked back, crossing the wire 1 3/4 lengths in front. 

 

McDermott started his training career in 1991, and won his first race that same year. Perhaps his best year as a trainer came in 2009, when he won 118 races and earned more than $2 million.

 

The next year, McDermott won the U.S. Pacing Championship and the Battle of Lake Erie with his best horse,Hypnotic Blue Chip. He also finished second in the Canadian Pacing Derby and William Haughton Memorial that year. In his career, Hypnotic Blue Chip earned more than $1.7 million.

 

Two years later, he sent Major Look to victory in the Mistletoe Shalee and the Adios Volo. She earned more than $519,000 in her career. 

 

Century Endeavor’s win was McDermott’s first of the 2021 season. It also pushed his career earnings to just $75,000 shy of the $25 million mark.