Trevor Henry is no stranger to winning races. The 43-year-old Arthur, Ontario resident has won over 5,000 races in his career and is currently Canada’s leading driver, but what is new territory for Henry is the venue where he is visiting the winner’s circle quite often.
When the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit returned to Woodbine Racetrack for the Fall/Winter meet it gained Canada’s leading dash-winning driver to its colony.
Henry, who has dominated the Ontario ‘B’ tracks for many years, recently made the decision to race full-time on the WEG circuit. He said the driving force behind the decision was to slow down his work load
“I was racing too much; I was going seven days a week pretty much and I wanted to slow down, so I thought if I come here (Woodbine) it’s four nights and I go once to London and that’s really all I want to do for the winter.”
Racing day in and day out has paid off for Trevor Henry, who has more wins than any other driver in Canada this year (427) by more than 120 (James MacDonald sits second with 302).
Upon making the move to Woodbine, Henry made an immediate impact when he recorded a grand slam with four victories on the fifth night of the meet. After Monday night’s card, Henry is currently fourth in the driver’s standings for the Woodbine meet with 20 victories and earnings of over $300,000.
Henry said the move to WEG has been a smooth transition.
“It’s been really good, I’ve been getting lots of drives and good horses and it’s worked out well.”
Racing primarily on half-mile and five-eighths of a mile tracks around Ontario, Henry noted a change in driving tactics in necessary on the Woodbine seven-eighths of a mile surface.
“The smaller track you have to be close to the front. Woodbine is a front-end track, but you can come from off the pace,” said Henry. “It’s a lot more covering them up and trying to finish.”
Top conditioners like Richard Moreau and Anthony Montini have been using Henry on a regular basis since his move to Woodbine. Henry noted when he was racing sporadically on the WEG circuit it was tough to get a full card.
“Now that they (trainers) know I’m here all the time they will use me more, where before they didn’t know where I was and it just didn’t work out,” said Henry. “But now that they know I’m here they use me."
If the numbers Henry has been posting early on during the Fall/Winter meet are any indication, the ‘King of the B tracks’ is going to be a force to reckon with on Canadian harness racing’s biggest stage.
(WEG)