BIBLE HILL - All it took was breaking the ice.
A day after getting the 3,500th win of his 41-year driving career Saturday at Charlottetown Driving Park, Danny Romo went off for four wins Sunday at Truro Raceway to pad his total to 3,504.
"I got four today," the 59-year-old Shubenacadie resident said with a laugh following Sunday's 12-dash card at the Bible Hill half-mile oval. "For a couple weeks I couldn't get nothing. But it's just one of those days you get lucky enough and things go good and you get the wins."
It seemed like the milestone win would never come for the life-long horseman, who posted No. 3,499 May 27 with Hoshinosenshi at Inverness Raceway. Since then, Romo had been trying to snatch 3,500 with unparalleled hard luck.
"One Sunday I got nine seconds," he said, still in disbelief. "I couldn't get to the winners circle."
But that changed Saturday when he teamed up with A As Glory in a Maritime Breeders elimination for three-year-old fillies. Romo got locked in position and ended up getting pushed to the back of the eight-horse field. But just as the front-runners bunched up battling for the win, Romo swung A As Glory wide and edged out a 1:59. 3 victory in a photo finish.
"It was the horse. I wouldn't really say it was that good a drive," Romo said with a grin.
After learning he had won following a review, Romo was met in the winner's circle by his wife Susan, owner Andrew Ward, of Saint John, N.B., and a group of Truro Raceway horsemen who were also competing that night. He was then presented with a banner commemorating the victory.
"It feels good," Romo said. "I was trying to get there for a while and there's only a few drivers in the Maritimes that have more than 3,500 and they're top drivers. So to get up with that group, I figure I've done as good as I could in the Maritimes."
Romo, who also owns and trains horses, joins Steve Mahar (5,073) and Gilles Barrieau (3,543) as the only Maritime drivers in history to record more than 3,500 wins.
Romo was red-hot Sunday, taking wins with MD Caseys Comet, Milliondollardancr, RL Rocco and Dreams Matter in eight starts. He went to the winner's circle three times in a four-race span.
It's a long way from starting as an 18-year-old at the former Sackville Downs, not far from where he grew up in Lower Sackville, in 1971.
"I was just hoping to be the leading driver there when I was a kid," he said.
So now that he's passed the milestone, could he add more to his resume? It's possible. Romo says he feels better now than he has the past several years after having back surgery in December.
"As long as I feel healthy I'm going to keep driving," he said. "I like doing it. It's all I've ever done since I was 18."
sports@trurodaily.com
