Ry Eikleberry knew he was close but had relegated the entire subject to someplace in the dark recesses of his memory bank. In other words, it wasn’t foremost on his mind.
“You know, I barely ride quarter horses any more,” he said.
Just the same, when Eikleberry won aboard Tty From Mr Pye for trainer Ed Ross Hardy in Thursday night’s only quarter horse race, he moved into hallowed ground at Canterbury Park.
The win was his career 94th, tying him for second place in Canterbury history with Tad Leggett, just two wins behind the track’s all time winner, Scot Schindler.
“I knew I had to be close, but I thought maybe about 10,” Eikleberry said.
Eikleberry, who was the leading quarter horse rider at Canterbury Park three consecutive times, is second to Leggett all time in earnings. Leggett, the only quarter horse rider to win four titles (he shared one with Helen Vanek) earned $917,981. Eikleberry moved to within $7,419 of that figure on Thursday night.
He has two mounts on Friday night’s card, with a good chance of winning one or both. “They are both live,” he said.
