by Shawn F. Wiles, for Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — When Tuesday (March 31) started, Bruce Aldrich Jr. had 146 driving wins thus far in 2015, which ranked him fourth in North America. By the end of the day he added six more, upping his tally to 152.

Aldrich currently leads the Monticello Raceway driver colony with 119 wins and is in second place at Saratoga Raceway with 24 wins.

Mother Nature continued her cruel streak as the card was marked with intermittent snow squalls, the track condition started off as ‘good’ and then later in the card was downgraded to sloppy.

Geri Schwarz photo

Giddyallyougot was one of six winners on the Tuesday card for Bruce Aldrich Jr.

Always a good indicator on what kind of day Aldrich is going to have are the first two legs of the Daily Double. It was to be a very good day, as Aldrich swept both ends of the Double, scoring with Magic Manny in the first and then right back with One Tough Hombre for trainer Thomas Merton, both with winning times of 1:57.2. The Aldrich Double returned $6.80.

Aldrich came right back to win in the third race with Fools Run Around. With no drive in the fourth, he won the fifth with Giddyallyougot by a scant nose over Paulimony and driver Jim Taggart Jr.

The sixth race looked like a mortal lock with morning line favorite Priority, but after cutting the mile he finished third.

In the ninth race, he teamed up with leading trainer Bob Lounsbury with the 8-year-old Badlands Hanover gelding Amazing Quest in 1:58.1. In the card’s finale he scored a wire-to-wire win with Catman Dude.

When reached in the paddock after his last win, he was posed the question, “What does it feel like to win 60 percent of the day’s races?”

Bruce cheerfully replied, ”I’m getting good drives; today I was getting to the front easy with soft fractions, so everything worked out for the best.”