Just like a fine wine, Trent Wheeler continues to get better with age, with the 39-year-old celebrating his 500th career win in the cart on Friday night at Albany.
On board The Righteous for trainer Peter Anderson, the pair had already combined for a win earlier in the night when three-year-old Ellucifer took out race two, a win for favourite punters at $1.45 odds.
With the win being number 499 for Wheeler, the night was looking promising for the Collie based reinsman and in race five, $1.75 favourite The Righteous was able to lead all the way from barrier one, delivering Wheeler the 500-win feat, an exciting moment for the 'Collie King.'
Walking away with driving honours on the night, Wheeler is making a habit of dominating the country circuit with four wins on the night.
Gota Good Warhol led all the way for Coolup based trainer Hayden Reeves, with the four-year-old starting as the short-pried favourite, and after a very convincing win and a margin of 29.7m spacing him from the rest of the field, he broke a 16-start losing sequence and took his lifetime earnings to over $50,000.
Star Of Kaos rounded out the evening and the festivities for Wheeler, with the 52-start maiden finally breaking through for her first win. The Double Westbred daughter of Follow The Stars was able to secure the leaders back over the 2265m trip, and with use of the sprint lane in the concluding stages, was able to rattle home to win by 6m, giving trainer Hayden Reeves a double on the night.
Undeniably Wheelers best season yet, Wheeler now sits on 502 winners, and with his personal best of 77 wins last season, Wheeler is just 10 wins short of 100 this season, currently sitting on 90.
The collaboration with the Peter Anderson stable has been a very successful one for Wheeler, with the pair claiming the Group 1 Mares Classic last month with Simply Shaz NZ pocketing the $86,130 purse ahead of the Westbred poster girl Wonderful To Fly, repeating a similar upset earlier in the year in the Group 2 Empress Stakes when the pair came out on top over the WA Golden Girl by a half head margin.
Universally known as one of the good guys around the track, Trent Wheeler is always willing to lend a hand, whether it be to fix the mobile at the Collie Trots when the wings wouldn't retract, or complete one of the many thousands of auto electrical tasks he's asked to do by his peers.
Wheeler continues to show up week after week with a smile on his face, grateful for the support and opportunities he's offered each week by the stables that continue to stand by him.
Trent Wheeler heads to Busselton tonight with a book of six drives from the seven events, and then heads to Pinjarra tomorrow afternoon for a further eight drives.
