When the rain hit just before post time at Cornerstone Raceway in Yorkton Friday, one man was smiling, driver Jeffrey Stone
.
“I love the mud. I love the rain. The more it rains the better it is,” said Stone. “...I pray for rain. They call me the rainmaker.”
So why does Stone like the rain?
“Because nobody else likes it,” he said, adding he has learned “you can’t control the weather, so it’s no reason to get upset. You’ve just got to go out and do your job.”
And Friday night that is exactly what Stone did getting to the winner’s circle in five of the eight races on the card.
Stone said it was a gratifying night, but noted “it’s happened before...I won seven in Regina the last time it rained there [when the track still existed].”
In the process of winning five Friday, Stone put four of those wins together in a row, setting a mark the track announcer said had not been accomplished in the current era of racing in Yorkton. Stone said it was “very good” to establish a streak like that for the track, but again said it was not a personal first.
“I’ve had more than one natural hat trick, and a seven-win and six-win night,” he said, adding, “I’ve had over a thousand wins.”
While multi-win nights aren’t new for Stone, he said they are appreciated. “It was a very good day, and they don’t come around often enough,” he said.
Stone started the night winning the first race with Jomars Tami, then returned for wins in the next three wins with Ashley Rocks in the second, Judges Discretion in the third and Out Of Snorts in the fourth. It took until the final race on the card for Stone to record his fifth win with Right On Willie.
Asked if one race stood out, he said winning with Ashley Rocks, trained by Rick Kosterman. “We’ve been friends for 25 years,” he said.
Right On Willie was a solid win too, said Stone. “That was a good one,” he said, noting Willie raced hard and couldn’t be held back.
The horses Friday were from various trainers, but Stone said he just works with the horses he gets to drive. “The job of a catch driver is to adjust to every horse. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t,” he said.
Stone said he doesn’t do anything particularly different in terms of racing in the mud, but added his mindset is good because of his past suggest on wet tracks. “It just picks me up a little bit when it’s rained,” he said.
Then Stone paused a second and added he might have a natural advantage in the sense he probably weighs 100-pounds less than any other driver on the track. On a muddy, deep track he said, “I think weight matters.”
(A Trot Insider exclusive by Calvin Daniels)