Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Driver of the Month
for October 2010

Tony Morgan

When driver Tony Morgan grabs the lines and heads to a new racetrack, he quickly makes the top of the field wherever he races.

In November 2005, the Troy, Ohio native--who comes from a long line of drivers and trainers--packed his colors and whip and left the Windy City after a 20-year stint to pursue driving on the East Coast.

Tony Morgan

Morgan quickly became the leading driver at Dover Downs, the Delaware racetrack, and continues to be on top of the driver's standing and at other Eastern venues.

Morgan, 50, had been one of the top Chicago drivers since first coming to the Windy City in the mid-1980s. He had consistently been the leader among all of the drivers and won countless titles at all of the Chicago racetracks.

Tony with one of his favorite pacers, Magic Shopper
As well, he was an indefatigable negotiator and leader when it comes to vying with the Illinois Racing Board and racetrack management. In August of 2005, Morgan resigned after serving his second consecutive term as president of the IHHA, the state’s long-time 1,100-member horsemen’s organization.

"I was getting tired as the racing business here in Illinois is so bad," Morgan said. "I’ve served my time and tried my best, and it’s time to let someone else battle. I made my assessment of what the tracks were making off the horsemen, and what the horsemen were getting from the tracks and decided I had enough. After I saw the dates for 2006, there was no way I was going to stay in Chicago and race.

"The IRB has let the tracks dictate to them over the years, and that’s not right," Morgan said. "Cutting the amount of days that we race would have been the smart thing to do. That would have constituted more money for the purse account, and it would be best suited if it were done in blocks of time, instead of cutting days per week."

"I'm not much into the long-range stuff. I try to have a good day every day, and if I have a bad day, I turn the page."

"Everybody wants it all and you just can’t have it that way in Illinois right now," Morgan said. "Unless we get an alternative revenue stream, we are just supporting the bottom feeders, the $4,000 claimers and that’s not the way to get new owners into the business or to keep the good owners that we have."

"We are trying to race 12 months of the year in Illinois and it just isn’t working, and it doesn’t allow for any kind of growth in Illnois. The racing here has just becomes stale as things stand now."

Tony piloting Jeremy's Jet at Delaware, Ohio
Since heading to Dover, Morgan has become the leading driver at the Delaware racing facility, winning as many as five races per night. He is currently (as of July 1, 2008) the leading driver in North Amerca.

"Racing at Dover (Delaware) has been real good for me so far," Morgan said.

Tony has been driving since he was 15-years-old, steering his father’s horses around the Ohio county fair ovals. Since that time he’s driven the winners of over $58 million and scored 9,003 victories lifetime, as of September 6, 2004.

His first one million dollar earning season came in 1988, and every year since 1995 Tony has piloted the winners of over $4 million per year.

"It’s always nice to win the title at any track," Morgan said. "I was lucky to get a lot of half-mile racing experience while I was still a youngster. My dad would load me up with a trailer full of horses and send me to the county fairs on the weekends. That experience was invaluable, and has helped me throughout my career."

On April 23, 2008 Morgan became the fourth driver in harness racing history to reach 12,000 career wins when he guided Fox Valley Impulse to victory in the second race at Harrah's Chester.

                       Tony driving Fox Valley Barzgar at The Meadowlands

"It’s great; it's nice to get a feather in your cap and a little recognition from your peers," said Morgan, whose win with Fox Valley Impulse was his only one that day.   "I didn't have a great day overall; it would have been better if I won five or six. But my dad and my wife were here, so that was nice. It was another day at the office, I guess."

On Thursday, June 12, 2008 at Harrington Raceway, Morgan won seven races on the card, while celebrating his 50th birthday. Only Morgan, Brad Hanners and Brandon Givens have won seven races on a card at Harrington. Morgan is the only driver to achieve the feat twice on Delaware's half mile racetrack.

Over the years Tony has sat behind some of harness racing's most notable pacers and trotters, including Ball And Chain, The Wrath of Pan, Magic Shopper, Hot Lead and Image of Jate to name of few. In the last few years he has teamed up with owner Lloyd Arnold to produce such Illinois Standouts as Chevie Duramax and Quik Pulse Mindale.

Morgan, a native of Ohio now living in Warwick, Md., was Harness Tracks of America’s Driver of the Year in 2006, 2002, 1997 and 1996. The only drivers with more wins than Morgan are Herve Filion, Cat Manzi and Dave Palone.

Morgan thrives on the day-to-day grind and never gets too high or too low. In fact, when he won his 10,000th race in February 2006, he said of the feat:

"I'm not much into the long-range stuff. I try to have a good day every day, and if I have a bad day, I turn the page."

Based on his stats, the good days outnumber the bad by a wide margin for the lanky driver.

Tony Morgan's Lifetime Stats as of October 4, 2010
Year     Starts   Wins    2nds    3rds    Earnings       UDRS
2010      2681      368      382      330      $3,931,541     .257
2009      3269      566      487      377      $5,651,548     .294
2008      4526      959      743      546      $10,879,414    .343
2007      4109      879      704      547      $10,455,993    .353
2006      4133      1004    644      549      $8,478,313      .374
2005      3476      700      517      449      $5,183,207      .327
2004      3275      565      493      397      $4,815,070      .297
2003      2555      579      380      322      $4,268,241      .324
2002      3521      699      520      464      $5,110,506      .324
2001      2708      478      412      340      $4,058,642      .303
2000      3281      593      493      429      $4,924,804      .308
1999      3200      563      505      389      $4,201,152      .304
1998      3125      676      519      388      $5,777,534      .350
1997      3438      788      601      450      $5,576,825      .370
1996      3782      853      638      492      $5,201,715      .363
1995      3421      794      574      434      $4,439,134      .368
1994      2118      447      341      254      $2,412,310      .340
1993      1831      317      286      248      $1,667,661      .305
1992      1068      157      143      126      $854,309         .224
1991      1043      110      146      128      $854,309         .224
1990      1335      205      163      143      $1,369,263      .257
1989      896      118      134        99      $839,063         .252
1988      1098      150      158      141      $1,031,311      .259
1987        962      142      131      124      $672,552         .266
1986       953      180      138      105      $517,768         .306
1985      1064      187      138      150      $403,757         .295
1984        844      143      139      106      $313,784         .303
1983        320        42        45       46     $90,307           .257
1982        524        45        76       80     $116,210          .217
1981        507        83        74       99      $134,103          .310
1980        533        77        90     101      $87,743            .301
1979        520        91        91      90      $82,285            .330
1978        391        52        55      58      $51,139            .261
1977       130        15        15      19       $12,010            .228
Totals              13,635                      $104,505,282