HARNESS RACING : He’s Taking Main Street to Success

It was Peter Wrenn’s good fortune to start mucking out horse stalls at the age of 6.

He needed all the muscle he could build up before learning about banks in his adulthood.

Now 27 and in his 12th year as a harness driver, Wrenn has carted a hefty share of $6.25 million in race earnings to the teller’s window.

And, he has prepared for the future with his investments, especially the $3,000 he paid for a brown stud colt named Main Street at a yearling sale back home in Michigan.

Main Street, who is in training at Los Alamitos Race Course for his campaign as a 3-year-old, showed promise as a 2-year-old by winning 9 of 16 starts, including a $107,000 stake race at Jackson Raceway in Michigan.

Thus, Wrenn is quick to declare Main Street as his favorite pacer.

Wrenn figures he’s lucky to be driving Main Street, for keeping tight grip of the reins almost took him from sulky to wheelchair.

“Yes, that was when I crossed the finish line on my stomach,” he said. “It was cold and snowing at the track in Northville (Mich.). We were coming out of the last turn and into the stretch when both of my sulky shafts snapped, throwing me to the ground. I don’t know what made me do it, but I hung onto the lines. My pacer, Floradew, pulled me the rest of the way.”

Wrenn has evidence to prove the feat, for the photo-finish picture shows his feet “draggin’ in the snow.”

“Somehow,” he said, “I stopped my pacer, Floradew, and was able to slide to my feet.”

Now, Wrenn is standing tall at Los Alamitos, where he recently monopolized the headlines by winning six races and placing once in nine starts during one program.

Los Alamitos President-General Manager Lloyd Arnold lured Wrenn west because of his solid driving statistics.

They read: 11,874 starts, 1,964 wins, 1,744 places and 1638 shows. At Los Alamitos, he has had 251 starts, 49 wins, 32 places and 28 shows.

No, Wrenn isn’t planning to buy Seal Beach, where he has taken up residence along with brothers Gary and Mark and fiancee Melanie.

“I have a lot of goals,” he said, “so I still have a lot to accomplish. The main goal, of course, is to win races.

“And, I’d like to get into the Hambletonian. I was in the Little Brown Jug, and that was a lot of fun. I really enjoy racing.”

That enjoyment stretches all the way back to when he drove his first harness racehorse at the age of 14.

“I’ve never held another job, except for pumping gas,” Wrenn said, “I’ve been fortunate enough to drive some nice horses. I’ve driven to a couple of world (mile) records (on five-eighth-mile tracks) at Pompano Park in Florida. C’mon Ashley did it for Age Pacing Mares in 1:53.2. C. Blitzen Almahurst did it for Age Pacing stallions in 1:53.”

Wrenn, whose family operates a horse farm in Swartz Creek, Mich., is hoping Main Street will find the record books, too.

Then, Wrenn will beat another path to the bank.