Turfway Park: Woolf nominee Prescott wins 3,00th race

Rodney Prescott became the 162nd jockey in North American racing history to win 3,000 races when he guided Heart of Class to a narrow victory in the ninth race Thursday evening at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

Prescott, 38, told Turfway officials the milestone meant a lot to him. “I’m thankful to have won that many. I’ve had a good career.”

Prescott, one of five nominees for the 2013 George Woolf Memorial Award, tied Darrell Madden for 161st on the all-time wins list with 3,000. Next at No. 160 is the legendary Ron Turcotte with 3,032. The all-time leader is Russell Baze with more than 11,800.

Heart of Class is trained by Wayne Mogge, a longtime Prescott supporter. Prescott “has all the qualities that you look for in a person,” said Mogge. “He’s a good man.”

Prescott, a native of Portland, Ind., won his first race in June 1994 at River Downs in his adopted hometown of Cincinnati and has made a year-round circuit of tracks in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio ever since.