Yannick Gingras (born August 4, 1979, in Sorel, Quebec, Canada) is a

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

driver of

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

horses in the sport of

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

Career awards and records

Gingras drove in his native Canada until 2001 when he moved to

Yonkers Raceway Yonkers Raceway & Empire City Casino, founded in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track, is a one-half-mile standardbred harness racing dirt track and slots racino located at the intersection of Central Park Avenue and Yonkers Avenue in Yonkers, New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

where he enjoyed immediate success, winning that fall's driving title. Following a 426 win year in 2003 that earned him the

Dan Patch Rising Star Award The Dan Patch Rising Star Award is an annual award created in 1986 by members of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA). The award recognizes the exceptional early accomplishments of a young harness horse trainer and/or driver. The ...

, he relocated to

Meadowlands Racetrack The Meadowlands Racetrack (currently referred to as Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment) is a horse racing track at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness ...

in 2004 which he continues to maintain as his home base. In 2014, Yannick Gingras was voted American harness racing's Dan Patch Driver of the Year Award, and led all drivers in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in purse money won in 2014 and 2015. In June 2016 he earned the 6000th win of his career at

Pocono Downs Mohegan Pennsylvania (formerly Mohegan Sun Pocono, Pocono Downs and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs) is a racino located in Plains Township on the outskirts of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The casino features over 2,300 slots, live tables for blackj ...

and in August, the driver and trainer combination of Gingras and

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

inductee

Jimmy Takter Jimmy Takter (born September 29, 1960, in Norrköping, Sweden) is a harness racing horse trainer based in East Windsor, New Jersey, who came to the U.S. in 1982. He was inducted into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2012. Background Tak ...

set a record when they won the Hambletonian Oaks together for the third consecutive year.New Meadowlands Racetrack, LLC. August 6, 2016 article titled "Oaks Hat Trick for Takter and Gingras"
Retrieved September 25, 2016

References

1979 births Canadian harness racing drivers American harness racing drivers American Champion harness racing drivers Dan Patch Award winners Sportspeople from Quebec Sportspeople from New Jersey Canadian emigrants to the United States Living people {{Canada-sport-bio-stub