Photo by Dean Gillette
Atlee Bender scores 1,000th win
By Tammy Knox
Atlee Bender, top five driver at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, added a new statistic to his credentials with his 1,000th career driving win Friday, June 26. The 34-year-old celebrated the milestone with trotter Go Pikachu Go in the evening’s fifth race.
It was a big day for Bender, who started off at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Ky. winning all three of his races and actually scoring his 1,000th with two-year-old filly pacer Aww Suki Suki Na for trainer Joey Ayotte. Bender ended up winning all three of his drives on the day in Kentucky before scooting north to Harrah’s Hoosier Park for the night program. Family and friends joined him in the winner’s circle with a banner and pink shirts with “1,000 wins and Counting” to celebrate the accomplishment with the Ron Burke-trained Go Pikachu Go. Bender drove in 14 total races Friday, June 26, hitting the board with half of his horses.
Bender and his wife, Hannah, reside in Noblesville with their two-year-old daughter, Linden. The Goshen, Ind. native has had a banner year so far, winning seven on the card at Oak Grove in early May to establish a new track record for most wins in one program at the Kentucky track. He has had numerous multiple wins thus far at Harrah’s Hoosier Park this season with his 73rd win of the meet recorded on his milestone night.
