Racing: Orange notches milestone

Rolleston reinsman Blair Orange brought up career win No 1000 when he drove Change Time to victory in race 2 at the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club's meeting at Addington last night.

Orange, who drove his first winner at Reefton on New Year's Eve in 1996, had good success as a junior driver and in his first two seasons as an open driver, but his decision to accept a job working for Mark Purdon in the 2002-03 season was a masterstroke.

In the 11 seasons following, he earned more than $12.6 million in stakes for owners of horses trained by All Stars Stables.

Orange established a good rapport with pacers Highview Tommy, Fiery Falcon and Ohoka Arizona, while he also picked up wins on superstars such as Adore Me, I Can Doosit and Auckland Reactor.

Orange is now working with West Melton horseman Ken Barron and he has driven 24 of the 26 winners from the Toliman Lodge barn so far this season.