Lake making a beeline to rare milestone of 6,000 career wins

Scott Lake’s stable has been on a tear, going 16 for 48 (33 percent) at Parx Racing, Laurel Park, and Penn National since March 18. His hot streak comes at an opportune time since as of Wednesday morning he is six victories shy of becoming the sixth trainer in Thoroughbred history to win 6,000 races.

The other members of the 6,000-win club are the late Dale Baird (9,445 wins), Steve Asmussen (8,389), Jerry Hollendorfer (7,590), the late Jack Van Berg (6,523), and King Leatherbury (6,501).

Lake led all North American horsemen in wins in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2006. He was the second-winningest trainer behind Asmussen six times between 2002 and 2009. In 2006, Lake won 528 races.

Although Lake doesn’t carry as many horses as in his heyday, the victories are still coming. He won 87 races last year and 130 in 2017. At age 53, he is far from finished.

“A year ago, I went on the Parx TV show and was asked to talk about 6,000, and I thought it was a bad idea,” Lake said. “We were ice cold, but here we are nearing it, and we’ve heated up again. My crew is working hard.”

Lake said that at one point he had 287 horses in training at seven different racetracks. He currently has 42 horses at Parx and 25 to 30 at Pimlico. The Maryland string will soon be moved to Delaware Park, where Lake won seven consecutive training titles from 2002-08. He tied for the top spot again in 2017.

Lake, who has 33 wins this year, decided to reduce the size of his operation in 2010. The stable had gotten too big, the work too demanding, and he was having financial problems after his accountant stole more than $1 million from him.

“It’s still something we’re dealing with,” Lake said. “We are still going back and forth with the IRS. Fortunately, I’m one of those guys who can shake things off.”

Lake is looking forward to No. 6,000.

“I’m proud of it,” he said. “It’s for all the great guys who have worked for me and all the owners who have stuck with me over the years. I always say ‘we,’ not ‘I.’ I’m not doing this alone. I’ve had a lot of help.”

Lake, the son of a police officer, grew up in Harrisburg, Pa. He went to work at nearby Penn National in his teens and started training in 1987 at age 22. His stable took off in 1999 after he shifted to Philadelphia Park, now Parx, where he is the all-time winningest trainer.

Lake has always been an astute trader of horses through the claim box but also has won 10 graded stakes. Two of his better horses were Thunderello and Shake You Down.

Thunderello, a private purchase for $175,000, won the Gallant Bob at Philadelphia Park and finished a close second in the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Shake You Down won the Grade 2 True North and four Grade 3 races: the Bold Ruler, Smile Sprint, Gravesend, and Count Fleet Handicap.

Lake also has graded wins with True to Tradition, Don Six, My Cousin Matt, and Leave It to Beezer.

“Thunderello was the first horse I paid a substantial sum for,” Lake said. “Shake You Down we claimed for $65,000.”

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Lake’s all-time favorite is Spooky Mulder, whose only stakes win came late in his career in the Hockessin at Delaware. Lake claimed Spooky Mulder for $25,000 in the fall of 2003 and went 7 for 15 with him before losing him for $65,000 the following summer. He claimed him back eight months later for $50,000 and won five more races before he was claimed away a year later for $100,000.

All told, Spooky Mulder won 34 of 85 starts.

“He was an unbelievable horse,” Lake said. “He won just shy of $1 million.”

Although Lake has been training for more than 30 years and his stable is more modest than it once was, he can’t conceive of doing anything else.

“I’ve told my kids a million times, ‘Just find something you love to do and do it,’ ” Lake said. “Don’t worry about what it pays or anything like that.

“I think my worst days are better than some guys’ best days. I’ve been like a big kid playing Monopoly my whole life.”