The Record
Western Wings appears in the surviving Plainridge programs across 3 seasons, 2002 to 2004, with 14 starts for which the official chart records a finishing position. One of those produced a win, and the horse finished in the first three on 4 occasions altogether.
The fastest mile recorded here is 1:57.4, set on Monday, September 27, 2004. A harness time is written in minutes, seconds and fifths, so the final digit is a fifth of a second rather than a hundredth. On a five-eighths-mile oval like Plainridge a horse turns four times in a mile, which costs ground against the bigger tracks and makes comparison against the divisional marks misleading.
The winner's line in the chart gives the breeding as WESTERN HANOVER out of OUTRIGHT HASTY, herself by PRECIOUS FELLA. Harness pedigrees are quoted in that order — sire, dam, then the dam's own sire — because the maternal grandsire carries much of the weight in judging a standardbred family.
The classes Western Wings was entered in run to FMNW300PS, FMNW200PS, 3000CL OP, 4000CL OP, 5000CL, FMNPO. These are condition races rather than claiming events, so eligibility rested on money already won rather than on a posted purchase price.
The drivers who sat behind Western Wings most often were Paul A Silva (12), Michael E Eaton (1). Driver changes matter more in harness racing than the bare numbers suggest, because the same horse can be driven for early speed or held for a late quarter depending on who holds the lines.
Every Start Held Here
Questions about this horse
Which drivers sat behind Western Wings?
Paul A Silva (12) and Michael E Eaton (1). The figure in brackets is the number of drives.
Was Western Wings a trotter or a pacer?
A pacer — every charted start is at the pace. A pacer moves its legs in lateral pairs, a trotter in diagonal pairs, and a horse is normally campaigned at one gait or the other.
What class did Western Wings race in?
FMNW300PS, FMNW200PS, 3000CL OP and 4000CL OP, plus 6 other conditions. Each code is a set of eligibility conditions rather than a grade — the class pages explain what each one admitted.
What were the odds on Western Wings?
The shortest price in the recovered charts is 2.40 to one. Odds are the closing figures printed on the chart, so they reflect what the pool decided at the off, not a forecast.
How many starts does the record show for Western Wings?
The record shows 14 charted starts for Western Wings, 2002 to 2004. The name appears on 23 race days in all once entry sheets are counted, because a horse can be drawn into a race and then scratched before it is run. That is what the programmes and result sheets hold, not necessarily the horse's full career: starts made at other tracks are outside this record.
How did Western Wings finish in these races?
Yes — 1 win from 14 starts, a strike rate of 7.1%. Adding 2 seconds and 1 third, Western Wings finished in the first three on 4 occasions.
What was Western Wings's fastest mile?
1:57.4, on 2004-09-27. Harness times are read as minutes, seconds and fifths, so 1:57.4 is 1 minute and the rest in seconds — the final fifth is the digit after the last point.