Sears' Statement On Restrictions

BrianSears01.jpg
Published: June 19, 2014 03:38 pm EDT

Trot Insider has learned that driver Brian Sears will no longer be able to drive in qualifiers or overnight events at Meadowlands Racetrack, Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs.

Both Sears and Jeff Gural confirmed the news on Thursday afternoon. Gural would not comment on the decision, saying "I assure the industry that I have a reason."

At the conclusion of 2012, Sears moved his driving base from The Meadowlands to Yonkers Raceway. He won the 2013 driving title at Yonkers, driving 471 winners from 2,034 starts at the New York half-miler. These wins helped bolster his seasonal totals to near-career levels with 507 wins (second best total in his driving career) and $13.75 million in purse earnings (third best career total).

Last weekend, Sears drove JK Endofanera to victory in the 2014 North America Cup and was behind Designed To Be for her world record effort at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Wednesday night. Sears currently sits third in North America in seasonal driver earnings with more than $3.86 million banked and eighth in wins with 232.

Late Thursday, Sears made the following statement on the decision.


I am deeply disappointed in Jeff Gural’s recent decision to exclude me from the Meadowlands, Tioga and Vernon. I am a licensed driver in good standing with the New Jersey Racing Commission, the New York Gaming Commission and all other governing bodies throughout North America. I have done nothing wrong and have broken no rules. The only thing I did was say no to Jeff when he asked me to leave Yonkers and return to the Meadowlands earlier this year.

Owners in this game pay a lot of money to buy good horses and pay a lot of money to stake those good horses everywhere including the Meadowlands. Some of those owners want me to drive their horses in baby races, qualifiers, overnights and stakes. I’ve spent my whole career working hard to get to a point where owners want to have me drive their top horses. It’s disheartening that this is an issue.


Tags
Have something to say about this? Log in or create an account to post a comment.