Last week was one of Widger's finest ever. The Canton, Illinois native, who dons maroon and light blue colors, began a winning streak on Sunday night, January 30, that continued all week long. On Sunday at Balmoral, from nine drives, Sam scored three wins, a trio of fifths and a pair of fourth-place finishes. His victories that night came in three consecutive races, the ninth, tenth and eleventh.
He first guided Tom Stamper's Jagmeister N to a 1:53.3 clocking, then followed that up with a win behind Caprice Classic in 1:56.3 for trainer John Saner. Finally, he piloted Snoop Dawg to a 1:56.3 clocking for conditioner Ray White.
Monday night, January 31 at Maywood, Sam drove four horses and brought home four checks, including a win for trainer Steve Weiss' Nu Day For Mac in the ninth race.
Tuesday night at Balmoral Sam had seven drives, winning four races and grabbing two thirds and a fifth with the others. He began the night by driving Brett Wilfong's Likeable Guy to win the first race in 1:56.3. He then piloted the four-year-old Cape Crusader filly Maddymollymacey to victory in 1:55.4 for trainer Alex Adam and later steered Adam's other charge, the three-year-old Ft. Apache Hanover filly Ft. Apache Annie to win in 1:56.
"Ft. Apache Annie is a nice young, green filly who likes to really roll out of the gate pretty quick," Sam noted. "Once she gets to the front, she relaxes and is easier to drive, and hopefully, once she matures and gets a little more racing experience under her belt, she'll settle down some. The other mare, 'Maddy,' doesn't quite have competitive instinct of the other filly. She's not a quick horse and is questionable as to how she'll perform on a half-mile track. She's a funny horse to drive. You have to keep her attention, and it's hard to get her started up and backed down. She's not easy to drive. Actually, both of these mares are pretty quirky, but the three-year-old filly (Ft. Apache) has more talent than Maddy."
Sam wrapped up the evening by piloting Meeko Mania to victory in Balmoral's tenth race, guiding the Thomas Adams-trained Kentucky Spur mare to a 1:55.4 clocking. The following night at Maywood, Sam had six drives and nailed down four purse checks. The next night at Balmoral Park (Feb 3), he scored with Caprice Classic in 1:55.1 by four lengths for trainer John Saner and also had three second-place finishes on the card.
