Monticello, NY – On Monday (Feb. 25), the aptly named Win And Dream gave Bruce Aldrich Jr. his 9,000th win in the first race at Monticello Raceway.
The 8-year-old gelding, who won in 2:01.3 and paid $17.80, is trained and owned by Steven Ray of New Berlin, NY.
Born into a family of rich New England harness racing heritage, Bruce’s father Basil Aldrich has been competing since long before the USTA even began record keeping. Being indoctrinated at an early age, it didn’t take long before Bruce got the harness racing itch and started his own career.
His first year of racing was 1985 and he finished third in his only start. Gradually from there, he continued his journey. In the short span of five years, he had 189 wins and earnings of $172,803.
Bruce has been a mainstay at Monticello Raceway for decades, where the 57-year-old is a six-time Leading Dash winning driver.
In his career heading into Wednesday’s racing, he has been behind the starting gate 53,687 times, with 7,997 second-place finishes and 7,182 times finishing third, with career earnings of $37,266,758.
He has earned over $1 million per year in purses an amazing 17 times thus far in his career. His best year was 2015 when he had 663 wins and $3,361,218 in purse earnings.
In his 41-year career, Bruce has driven many horses, but one that stick outs for him was Royal Heart, who set a World Record at Saratoga that was later broken by Wiggle It Jiggle it. Royal Heart also paced one of the fastest miles ever at Monticello Raceway in 1:51.4.
Following the epic win, Bruce was greeted in the winner’s circle by his friends and fellow drivers.
Bruce wasted no time in his quest for his 10,000 win, scoring with Kenobi, just two races later.