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January 24, 2003
Tony Morgan wins HTA’s
driver of the year for third time
Tony Morgan, a perennial leader on the Chicago
racing circuit and national harness racing scene, has won Harness
Tracks of America’s prestigious Driver of the Year award for the
third time.
Morgan, HTA’s champion in 1997 and 1996, when he
tied with Luc Ouellette, earned the title again for his
accomplishments in 2002, when he ranked second nationally in winning
drives with 700, ninth in money won with $5,112,006 in purses, and
seventeenth in percentage standings, for a point total of 75.
Canada’s leading driver, Randy Waples, finished second with 63
points and last year’s HTA champ, Stephane Bouchard, was third with
56. Two other former HTA titleholders, Walter Case Jr. and Dave
Palone, finished fourth and fifth. Case finished first nationally in
both races won, with 708, and percentage standings, with a
remarkable .422 in 2,479 starts, but he was not in the top 25 in
money won. The HTA formula for Driver of the Year awards points on
the basis of 25 for first down to 1 for 25th, with a 25-point bonus
for finishing in the top 25 in all three categories.
Morgan will receive his Driver of the Year silver trophy during
HTA’s Night of Champions at the Diplomat hotel in Hollywood,
Florida, Friday night, March 14.
The standings of the top 10:
|
Rank |
Driver |
Wins
(Rank) |
Purses (Rank) |
Pct.
(Rank) |
Pts |
|
1 |
Anthony Morgan |
700 (2) |
$5,112,006 (9) |
.325 (17) |
75 |
|
2 |
Randy Waples |
430 (14) |
$5,189,526 (7) |
.319 (20) |
63 |
|
3 |
Stephane Bouchard |
559 (4) |
$4,237,604 (18) |
.308 (25) |
56 |
|
4 |
Walter Case Jr. |
708 (1) |
$2,636,355 (38) |
.422 (1) |
50 |
|
5 |
David Palone |
619 (3) |
$3,141,955 (26) |
.407 (3) |
46 |
|
5 |
Michael Oosting |
433 (12) |
$3,547,546 (23) |
.310 (23) |
46 |
|
7 |
Chris Christoferou |
517 (6) |
$6,816,393 (6) |
.292 (41) |
40 |
|
7 |
Brian J. Sears |
488 (7) |
$2,941,101 (32) |
.378 (5) |
40 |
|
9 |
Brett A. Miller |
534 (5) |
$3,097,805 (28) |
.349 (11) |
36 |
|
10 |
David S. Miller |
393 (20) |
$10,578,711 (2) |
.285 (50) |
30 |
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