Faulkner posts 1,000th career win

The 46-year-old trainer grew up working for his father, long-time

trainer Joe Faulkner, who also maintains a string at Thistledown. By age

12 the younger Faulkner was riding match races in the Texas hill

country. He eventually outgrew riding but continued working for his dad,

shipping to Texas tracks and fairs from the family farm in Big Spring.

Rodney took out his own trainer's license at age 18 and scored his first

win at now-closed Bandera Downs. Many of his early wins came on the

Texas fair circuit.

In the late 1990s, Faulkner stepped away from racing and for about three

years drove a truck and worked at a refinery. His dad first stabled a string at

Thistledown in 2000, and in 2001 the family sold the farm in Texas and moved

permanently to Ohio. Faulkner returned to training, opening a stable at

Thistledown with five horses.

Today has 34 in training at Thistledown and races primarily in Kentucky, West

Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Among his trainees is his first homebred,

Shotgun Sinner (Saints n' Sinners), who is expected to make its first start this

year. Some of Faulkner's string race in the silks of R&P Racing Stables Inc., a

partnership with his wife, an assisted-living nurse who also runs the couple's

farm in Berlin Center. Others are owned separately either by Faulkner or his

wife, while still others are trained for clients. In addition to the horses in

training, Faulkner has another 12 horses, including six yearlings, on the Berlin

Center farm.

Racing is a Faulkner family affair. One of Faulkner's stepsons, Frankie

Pennington, is a leading rider at Parx Racing and two years ago set the record

for most wins in a year at that Pennsylvania track. Faulkner's brother Rickey is

their father's assistant and also works as a farrier. A nephew, Joshua, and

another brother, Randy Joe, have held training licenses in the past.

Faulkner's other stepson, Cody Pennington, is a member of the U.S. Marine

Corps and is currently enrolled in officer training at Citadel College in

Charleston, South Carolina.