Veteran jockey T.D. Houghton registered the 5,000th win of his career May 4 when he guided 3-5 favorite Mambo Galliano, owned and trained by Shane Spiess, to a 6 1/2-length victory in a $4,000 claiming race at Thistledown.
Based mostly in the Midwest throughout his 26-year career, the hard-working Houghton wasted no time adding to that total. Riding the evening card at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort, Houghton guided Richard Fox's Storm Love to a clear victory in the opener there, a $5,000 claiming race.
Originally from Michigan, Houghton is the 27th rider to reach the 5,000-victory milestone. He ranked 21st in wins last year and since 2000 has finished in the top 10 by wins in four seasons: 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005.
On five different occasions, Houghton won at least three Michigan Sire Stakes on a single day at Detroit Race Course in 1997 and 1998, when he won four; and Great Lakes Downs in 1999, when he won four; 2001, and 2006. He has won 168 stakes races in his career.
