by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — Earlier this season Bruce Aldrich, Jr. set a personal goal for himself. His objective was to be number two in seasonal driving victories at Monticello Raceway because he figured that Zeke Parker’s 526 winners in 1996 was out of reach.

Geri Schwarz photo

When Bruce Aldrich, Jr. reined Red River Gem to victory in the 12th race on Dec. 6 he equaled Stephane Bouchard’s output of 410 wins in a single season at Monticello.

However, the second best production here at the Mighty M was the 410 wins posted by Stephane Bouchard during the 2005 season and Aldrich set his sights on that standard. With his five driving victories on Monday afternoon (Dec. 6) Aldrich has now equaled Bouchard’s output and with 12 drives on the Tuesday (Dec. 7) card his chances of surpassing 410 wins is nearly certain.

“I believe I have a legitimate shot at winning three or four races again today (Dec. 7) so I’m happy that I will be able to reach my goal,” Aldrich said. “I really have to take my hat off to Zeke. Winning 526 times on 225, or so, race cards is an unbelievable feat.”

With 17 racing programs remaining until the curtain comes down on the 2010 season Aldrich will certainly add to his totals but to reach 526 driving victories he’d need to average six wins per card which is almost an impossibility. Still Aldrich is pleased with his season.

And why shouldn’t he be? He had the Horse of the Year (Konchie) and no fewer than five horses from his barn have won 14 or more races. And his partner through all this, his wife April, and the stable’s head trainer, is on the verge of establishing a new track record for wins by a trainer in a single season. Currently with 167 victories Mrs. Aldrich needs just 10 more to equal her track record performance set during the 2007 season.

All told, Bruce Aldrich, Jr. has driven 413 winners (20th best in North America) this year and now has 3,356 in his career, the overwhelming majority (3,100) coming since the 2000 season.