“Not to sound greedy,” Pierce said, “but it never seems to be enough. It is the competitive nature of the business, you want to go out and compete and give your horse your best drive. And you want to win. And when you win one you want to win two.”

“As drivers we always look forward to nights like Saturday,” Pierce said. “You do everything a little more. You study the program a little longer. You think about not only your horse, but what every horse in the race is expected to do.” 

During the last half of 2006, Pierce found himself overshadowed by two factors – “The Wave” and “The Accident.”

As most know, it was Pierce and Total Truth that banged into Brian Sears and Shark Gesture during the 2006 Breeders Crown eliminations, causing the accident that resulted in Campbell going to the hospital with a broken leg, and the horse he drove euthanized on the track. 

                    
                                     Pierce behind American Winner


Pierce said with things so tight in the lane and everyone going flat out to the wire, the collision was unavoidable.

“No one wants to run into anybody else,” Pierce said. “We are fortunate that there are not more accidents than there are.”

Pierce was much more outgoing talking about “The Wave.”

After winning the first heat of the Kentucky Filly Futurity on Oct. 6 for her 11th consecutive win, Passionate Glide was upset by Queen Serene in the second heat, forcing a raceoff.

Sitting chilly behind Queen Serene for most of the mile, Pierce tipped Passionate Glide at the top of the stretch at Lexington’s Red Mile and trotted away in the lane. But as he blew past his opponent, Pierce waved bye-bye to Trond Smedshammer which drew a roar from the crowd and a rebuke from the stewards.

“If I knew this was going to cause as much talk as it has I probably would not have done it,” Pierce said. “It was not planned at all. I was just trying to have some fun. My filly was racing good and I thought it would be fun to wave bye-bye.”

And of the reaction to it, Pierce said, “It seems like a few people including the stewards didn’t like it, but thousands of other people around the country actually did like it.”

Only one thing has Pierce worried about the aftermath of the wave. “Trond and I have been good friends and he is an outstanding trotting trainer. And he throws the best Christmas parties."

"I am driving well and confidence is a big part of it -- experience, too," said Pierce. "Getting elected to the Hall of Fame was a thrill, big time. I never really thought about it until
Stan Bergstein [a Hall of Famer] mentioned to me after I won the Little Brown Jug in 1998 that if I kept on doing what I was doing, I'd go in one day. He was right."

Pierce, who resides in Clarksburg, New Jersey, won four Breeders Crowns in 2004, equaling the single-year record held by Campbell and Mike Lachance. His Crown victories came with Armbro Affair, Boulder Creek, Rainbow Blue and Village Jolt. Timesareachanging carried him to his third Little Brown Jug victory as well as triumphs in the Cane Pace and Adios.
 
Some of Pierce's top stakes tallies include a trio of Meadowlands events for two-year-olds in 2004--the $420,000 Peter Haughton with New York Yank, the $432,000 Woodrow Wilson with Village Jolt and the $450,620 Merrie Annabelle with Reinvent. Pierce also won the $662,970 Maple Leaf Trot with Mr Muscleman and the $543,543 Fan Hanover with Rainbow Blue. He guided also Tom Ridge to victory in the $530,000 World Trotting Derby in DuQuoin, Illinois.

                    Ron Pierce piloting Rainbow Blue to one of many victories in 2004


Ron Pierce's Career Statistics Through March 1, 2007
Year     Starts   Wins    2nds   3rds     Earnings      UDRS
2007        602      120      72         79      $1,738,034      .310
2006      2667      456      388      322      $14,439,087    .292 
2005      2459      421      319      307      $13,538,851    .285 
2004      2213      396      317      281      $12,329,238    .301 
2003      1962      280      265      269      $9,361,745      .263 
2002      1752      248      242      209      $6,894,080      .258 
2001      1720      183      225      200      $5,333,285      .218 
2000      2051      270      287      267      $6,988,758      .253 
1999      2437      312      303      300      $6,160,983      .238 
1998      2481      328      302      333      $5,922,143      .245 
1997      1815      226      239      242      $5,235,725      .242 
1996      2029      223      270      249      $3,708,780      .225
1995      2621      355      332      330      $4,047,881      .248 
1994      1909      232      238      233      $2,924,828      .231 
1993      2546      361      369      343      $4,938,410      .267 
1992      2518      368      362      378      $4,077,666      .276 
1991      2162      309      314      261      $4,115,407      .264 
1990      1889      226      194      246      $2,779,875      .220
1989      1541      168      199      176      $2,968,938      .219 
1988      1265      140      147      134      $1,238,052      .211 
1987        572       46        44        56      $485,841         .156 
1986      1109      208      183      145      $958,743         .323 
1985        964      143      142      163      $871,318         .287
1984        557       57      79          77      $328,865         .227 
1983        370       36      36          59      $153,763         .205
1982          91       8        5           10      $41,444           .155
1981          42       1        3            8       $10,993           .127
1980        205      27      25           31      $51,336           .250
1979         62       9       11            9       $25,906           .292
1978         21       2        1             2       $14,985           .153
1977         23       6        1             3       $16,106           .329 
Total               6,169                          $121,709,837