Post by Peter Gross on Dec 21, 2009 6:20:34 GMT -5
Timing is everything in the world of sports. Harness driver Randy Waples hit the winners circle for the 5000th time, but because he did it sometime past 11:00 pm Saturday night, it received all the attention of a Scarborough High School jr girls volleyball match. Waples steered Keystone Horatio to victory in the 10th race in the cold at Woodbine. It was a $50,000 pace and Keystone Horatio won easily at 2-1 in 1:50.3, an excellent time considering the -7 conditions.
Waples is what you could call a survivor. He's only 44, but he's been driving for 25 years and 2009 is one of his better years. He's up to 277 wins, far off the 550 he piled up in 2001, but purse-wise, Waples' horses have accumulated over $7,000,000 and that will be the second highest total he's put together.
Waples might be the most interesting man in a sulky in this country. He has taken a few mild stabs at acting and though that has never translated into a sitcom or co-starring role with Will Smith, the son of the legendary Ron Waples has a wicked sense of humour and an appealing presence on television. He may have a strong sense of himself, but Randy Waples is always the first to ream himself for a bad drive.
Sometimes Waples has been just a little too much fun at the track. Several years ago, after a winning drive, he would stand in the sulky like a Roman Chariot driver. The authorities told him to cool the grandstanding. Two years ago, while being interviewed on the The Score following a win, Waples pulled a Mike Myers and sent out a greeting to "my girlfriend, Alotta f*gina." That too did not resonant positively with the Woodbine suits and Waples had to serve a suspension. A paddock incident in which another driver suffered a helmet blow to the head led to Waples being banned from Woodbine for a period and his win totals in 2005 ( 197) and 2006 ( 131) reflected that.
As well, a dreadful spill three years ago caused Waples to break both of his arms. There's a great story here about his wife doing everything for him that he was unable to do for himself and we'll leave the specific details to your fervent imaginations.
Suffice it to say that Randy Waples is fully functional these days. He has resolved his difficulties with the Woodbine Entertainment Group (and when pressed, the bosses easily admit that a guy like Waples is a most marketable commodity). Anyone watching can see that Waples is focused on the job at hand - which is winning harness races. There is one terrific stat and it's not easily explained, but Waples win a disproportionate number of races in the second half of the card. It's uncanny how many times you see Waples on the winner in the 10th, 11th and 12th races on the Woodbine card, but it reminds me of how many goals Wayne Gretzky used to scored in the last ten minutes of a game, because by then, his opponents were gasping from chasing him all game.
Ok, so Randy Waples may not be the Wayne Gretzky of harness racing - more like the Will Ferrell. But he's putting the finishing touches on a tremendously successful year and the guy is a riot in person.
Would it have been too much to ask that the papers print, say, one paragraph on Sunday or Monday about Randy Waples winning for the 5000th time. Why is it I have to be the only one to do this?
Waples is what you could call a survivor. He's only 44, but he's been driving for 25 years and 2009 is one of his better years. He's up to 277 wins, far off the 550 he piled up in 2001, but purse-wise, Waples' horses have accumulated over $7,000,000 and that will be the second highest total he's put together.
Waples might be the most interesting man in a sulky in this country. He has taken a few mild stabs at acting and though that has never translated into a sitcom or co-starring role with Will Smith, the son of the legendary Ron Waples has a wicked sense of humour and an appealing presence on television. He may have a strong sense of himself, but Randy Waples is always the first to ream himself for a bad drive.
Sometimes Waples has been just a little too much fun at the track. Several years ago, after a winning drive, he would stand in the sulky like a Roman Chariot driver. The authorities told him to cool the grandstanding. Two years ago, while being interviewed on the The Score following a win, Waples pulled a Mike Myers and sent out a greeting to "my girlfriend, Alotta f*gina." That too did not resonant positively with the Woodbine suits and Waples had to serve a suspension. A paddock incident in which another driver suffered a helmet blow to the head led to Waples being banned from Woodbine for a period and his win totals in 2005 ( 197) and 2006 ( 131) reflected that.
As well, a dreadful spill three years ago caused Waples to break both of his arms. There's a great story here about his wife doing everything for him that he was unable to do for himself and we'll leave the specific details to your fervent imaginations.
Suffice it to say that Randy Waples is fully functional these days. He has resolved his difficulties with the Woodbine Entertainment Group (and when pressed, the bosses easily admit that a guy like Waples is a most marketable commodity). Anyone watching can see that Waples is focused on the job at hand - which is winning harness races. There is one terrific stat and it's not easily explained, but Waples win a disproportionate number of races in the second half of the card. It's uncanny how many times you see Waples on the winner in the 10th, 11th and 12th races on the Woodbine card, but it reminds me of how many goals Wayne Gretzky used to scored in the last ten minutes of a game, because by then, his opponents were gasping from chasing him all game.
Ok, so Randy Waples may not be the Wayne Gretzky of harness racing - more like the Will Ferrell. But he's putting the finishing touches on a tremendously successful year and the guy is a riot in person.
Would it have been too much to ask that the papers print, say, one paragraph on Sunday or Monday about Randy Waples winning for the 5000th time. Why is it I have to be the only one to do this?
