Trainers Jacobson, Levine Celebrate Career Milestones
David Jacobson
New York horsemen David Jacobson and Bruce Levine reached training milestones this past week, picking up career victories No. 1,000 and 2,000, respectively, and were recognized on Thursday at Belmont Park.
Jacobson, 60, took Belmont's third race on Thursday with Classic Salsa to reach 1,000 wins. The Brooklyn native saddled his first winner in 1976 at Monmouth Park and is perennially one of the top trainers on the NYRA circuit, having picked up year-end training titles in each of the past three years to go along with several individual meet titles. In 2013, Jacobson set a NYRA record for wins in a single year with 164.
"It was great to do it with a hard-hitting horse like Classic Salsa, who has won a lot of races for us," said Jacobson, who was unable to attend the races on Thursday. "I've been chasing 1,000 for a while now, and of course I get sick on the day I do it. It feels great, though, and now we'll look forward to the next 1,000."
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Two races prior to Jacobson's breakthrough, Levine, who achieved his milestone this past weekend at Penn National, was presented with a sign commemorating win No. 2,000 in the Belmont winner's circle. The New York native scored his first victory in 1979 at Aqueduct Racetrack with I'm It, and almost 30 years later picked up his first Grade 1 win when Bustin Stones took the 2008 edition of the Carter at Aqueduct.
