It’s always nice to see a few new faces racing down the track, and we are happy to announce that Jim Marino will be racing at Century Downs this summer.
Jim Marino, top driver and trainer from Fraser Downs, has moved into Century Downs for the summer season. Marino brought 17 horses with him and is looking forward to a busy season.
Marino has over 2000 career wins, with 38 wins at Fraser Downs this year alone. Don’t let the amount of wins fool you, he is modest about his wins and does not let it get to his head. “I try to get my barn worked on in the morning [have] a light snack, sometimes drink some soda pop, and that’s all I do,” said Marino.
With history racing at Fraser Downs, and the Running Aces last year, Marino has raced against a variety of other drivers. When asked who he’s most looking forward to race against at Century Downs, he said Mike Hennessy.
“I’m looking forward to racing with Mike Hennessy. We raced against each other for years, and then the last couple years he was off, but now he’s back at full force and I’m really looking forward to spending the summer racing against him,” said Marino.
In a recent interview here at Century Downs, Marino gushed about a couple horses in particular.“I got a nice old mare that I brought here, she’s nine years old, she gets me a cheque every week, and I think she has a good chance to win today,” said Marino about JANET ROSE who raced in the third race on Saturday, May 13th. Marino raced in Races 1, 3, 5 and 8 with NIGHTTRAINTOVEGAS, JANET ROSE, DRAWING DEAD and HUSH A BYE BABY.
While Marino did not take home a win on Saturday,we would not call him out. On Sunday, May 14th, Marino took the win on Race 8 with NAKED BURNER.
Another horse he brought with him is YOGA PANTS. “I got a filly named YOGA PANTS, she’s one of my favourites. She’s a stakes filly. I brought her here for some of the big stakes this summer, and hopefully she likes it here,” said Marino. YOGA PANTS has won several stakes in her days, and matched the season’s fastest mile in Canada for a three-year-old pacing filly on a five-eighths mile track. She is definitely a horse to keep an eye on.
Since Marino has been in this industry a long time, we asked him if he had any advice for the young horsemen looking to get into racing.
“If you want to get into the industry, try to find someone to mentor you, someone who knows what they’re doing. Work from the ground up, and if you love it, it will come,” said Marino.
If you want to watch Jim Marino or any of the other drivers in action, join us every Saturday, Sunday and holiday at 1:10PM. Join us every non-holiday Monday evening at 4:10PM featuring a $5,000 guaranteed PICK-4 every Monday! Don’t forget to spend the long weekend with us May 20-22 with a 1:10PM post time.
On Monday, May 22nd, end the weekend off right by joining the Alberta Standardbred Horse Association (ASHA) for their Fan Appreciation Day! You could win horse betting vouchers for every race card! Simply visit their table on the Apron.
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