Braddy collects 1,000th career win with impressive maiden winner

David Braddy is a man of few words, having let his training do his talking since he first took out his license at Calder in 1981. But Braddy was forced to say a little something at Gulfstream Park Thursday after his impressive maiden winner Flemish Cap gave him the 1,000th victory of his training career.

“By today’s standards, with all the super trainers, 1,000 is not such a big deal, but for me, it was a milestone I really wanted to reach,” said Braddy. “And it is a big deal for a guy like me, who’s trained at Calder and just kept grinding away with a modest stable all these years.”

Braddy said he wanted to thank all of his owners, although he did single out his principal client, Joel Sainer, as well as Tim O’Donohue, who owns Flemish Cap and Frye’s Leap, who gave him his 999th win five days earlier.

“All these guys have been with me a long time, and I really appreciate it,” said Braddy. “I’m also glad my assistant David [Chipman] was here for this one today. He’s been with me over 30 years and is a big part of all the success I’ve had. And while I’m finally glad I got this one out of the way, it looked like 999 and 1,000 would never come. To be honest, I kind of would have liked to have done it at Calder [now Gulfstream Park West] since most of my wins have come over there.”

And while Braddy said he doesn’t think he’ll make it to 2,000, he doesn’t intend to retire anytime soon.

“I love it,” said Braddy. “After you’ve done it all these years, the competition is what it’s really all about.”