Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Driver of the Month
February 2011

Sam Widger

In the past two decades it's been a common sight to see the colorful montage of Sam Widger's blue, white and maroon colors in the winner's circle of Maywood & Balmoral Parks.

Sam Widger celebrates career win #4,000

Sam posted his 4,000th career driving victory on Friday, January 21, at Maywood Park as he guided the aptly named Polar Bear to a neck victory in the 12th race of the night. With temperatures hovering in the single digits and a wind chill factor of nearly 10 below zero Widger remained red-hot finishing up the evening with seven victories while continuing to dominate the driver standings at the half-mile oval.

Widger, 47, also topped $3 million in purse earnings last season for the second time in his career (2006) is zeroing in on $30 million in lifetime purses. Like a fine wine he has really started to blossom with age posting 288,458,381,461,332 & 335 victories over the past six seasons.

"I want to thank all the owners and trainers that stuck with me through the years" said Widger. "I’m thankful they hung in there and never gave up on me. I’m fortunate to come off my best year."

Widger began driving racehorses in 1986, winning one of seven starts that year and $483 in purses. Since that time he’s amassed a career bankroll of just over $14.5 million. His father is trainer James Widger, who got his young son involved in harness racing back in 1982 near Moline, Illinois. Sam is one of ten children.

"My dad was building horse barns in the Quad City Downs area and working part-time as a farrier, and I started cleaning stalls at the Midwest Horse Spa at that time," Sam said. "I went to work for a trainer and was taking care of eight horses by myself."

Sam graduated from training horses to qualifying them, garnering his "P" license in 1987. After that, it only took the young reinsman six more months of driving Standardbreds to obtain his "A" license.

"In 1986 Dad and I started training together at the Spa and we followed the Quad City Downs/Fairmount Park circuit," Sam said. "I didn’t do a lot of driving the first couple of years I had my license. When I came to Chicago in 1991, some trainers started putting me down on their horses."

Sam broke the $100,000 money-earning barrier in 1991, winning 36 races from 304 starts. He remained consistent, winning an average of 50 races per season until 1997, when he visited the winner’s circle 106 times, steering the winners of $410,307.

"I have a lot of respect for my fellow drivers in Chicago. They are very professional and
some of the best in the business."

Sam has driven some top horses on the Windy City circuit, including the Cole Muffler champion filly Juxtaposition, who won the $98,136 American National for freshman pacing fillies in 1998 and 1999 star freshman filly Star Slinger. In 2000 he was the main pilot behind the gutsy filly Cyber Wave, a freshman sensation who racked up nine wins and three seconds in 12 starts, earning $254,774 and a share of the $1 million bonus paid out by the Illinois Dept. of Agriculture. She also became the first Illinois-bred filly to win the Cinderella pace under Sam’s tutelage.

"All were very nice fillies, and all raced tremendously as two-year-olds," Sam remembered. "It’s really competitive here in Chicago, and I’ve learned a lot through trial and error and been fortunate to have trainers stick with me through the good and the bad. This is a tough business and I take my hat off to everyone involved—the trainers, grooms, the owners, and the other drivers. It’s a community effort and it takes everybody to make things work."

"I have a lot of respect for my fellow drivers here in Chicago," Widger noted. "They are very professional and some of the best in the business."

Sam Widger's Career Statistics (through January 31, 2011)
Year    Starts    Wins   2nds   3rds     Earnings       UDRS
2011      212        58       33        28        $140,858         .404
2010      2197      335    307      284       $3,073,491      .273
2009      2388      332     347      300       $2,617,879      .262
2008      2767      461      405    403       $2,900,382      .296
2007      2659      381      346     315       $2,731,064      .255
2006      2954      458      437     403       $3,375,043      .283
2005      2480      288      355      321      $2,094,184      .239
2004      1007       89        94       117      $584,317       .179
2003        956       88        97      103      $665,851        .184
2002      1698      194      193      206      $1,407,537      .218
2001      1969      241      247      230      $2,233,746      .231
2000      1961      235      246      276      $2,297,430      .236
1999      1714      215      230      222      $1,886,862      .243
1998      1664      210      230      238      $1,631,331      .251
1997      769      106      102        86       $410,307        .249
1996       655        62       73       92      $315,324         .203
1995      383        33        52        43      $153,849         .199
1994      514       50       62       86      $214,903         .220
1993       423        42        41       58      $175,665         .199
1992       403       54        42        32      $214,760         .218
1991       304       36        27        36      $137,383         .207
1990      180       22        27        23      $55,405           .248
1989       194        19       24        35      $43,382           .227
1988       104         4       11        10      $12,295           .129
1987        45           6         5         3      $6,702             .217
1986         9           1         0         1      $483               .148
Total                 4,020                         $29,379,496