by Jack Ginnetti

Marlborough, MA — Jason Bartlett was at it again on Thursday night (May 1) at Yonkers Raceway.

The Windsor, Maine sensation had five winning drives on the 10-race card. Four of his winning drives were with horses trained by Robert Sumner.

The 27-year-old, who scored his 2,000th career win on April 10 at Yonkers, has been finding the winner’s circle with regularity ever since leaving the New England circuit last fall. His 177 firsts, 131 seconds and 89 third-place finishes since the start of 2008 have produced $1,410,796 in purse earnings and a nifty .343 UDR.

Bartlett has twice been nominated by the New England chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers for the Rising Star award.

Plaintalk: New England’s three major harness tracks, Rockingham, Plainridge and Scarborough are all planning giveaways in conjunction with Saturdays 134th running of the Kentucky Derby……..Bangor Raceway is still plagued with poor track conditions due to excessive rainfall and track treatment over the winter……Nicole Kraft has authored a book “100 Years in Harness” which will be released in July……John DiAntonio, longtime Standardbred owner who resides on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, has stabled a couple of horses at Plainridge……..Bubba McGee continues to be the top pacer on the grounds at Plainridge. Owned and trained by Mike Eaton, he has posted six wins in his last seven starts to up his season’s earnings over the $14,000 mark…Plainridge trainer Mike Perpall has compiled an impressive 11-8-3 mark and .433 percentage in 38 trips to the post……Brad Irvine, Jim Hardy and Eaton continue to strive for leading driver honors at Plainridge…..Kevin Harrington, a freshman at King Phillip High School in Massachusetts, drew the lucky winner of the Kentucky Derby charity raffle April 27 at Plainridge.