by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — When he began his career at Monticello Raceway back in 2006 Jordan Stratton was impressive right from the start and although he has had many personal milestones his star just keeps rising.

Geri Schwarz photo

Jordan Stratton won six races on Dec. 13.

On the afternoon of Tuesday (Dec. 13), Stratton won three races at Monticello Raceway and after traveling to his home base at Yonkers Raceway in the evening the youngster scored three more driving victories. The six wins that day raised Stratton’s seasonal total to 223 and now in less than five years of competitive driving Stratton needs just 41 more winners to reach 2,000 career victories.

As a son of longtime horseman Dave Stratton, young Jordan learned his lessons from the ground up.

“Dad taught us right,” Stratton said, in also referring to his younger brother Cory. “We did all the things kids would do around the barns like mucking stalls and hot-walking horses and we learned how to take care of a horse before we even were allowed to jog. But I believe all that formative stuff makes a great foundation for any horseman.”

Stratton’s decision to pursue a career in racing can be traced back to 2001, when he was the groom for two-time Ohio Sire Stakes champion Noble Cam, trained by his father. Later, one of Stratton’s early memorable moments came in August 2006 when he drove Noble Cam to victory at Monticello Raceway in an amateur event.

After displaying his prowess against amateur drivers, Stratton became a force in the professional ranks. In fact, he was so prolific that in 2007 he won 285 races and earned the moniker of “the Kid” which was appropriate since he was just 19 years old. That year young Stratton developed into a force to be reckoned with. With his burgeoning talent being noticed by the local training community “The Kid” became a much sought after catch-driver.

He developed so quickly that he began to get drives at Yonkers Raceway, just 90 miles down the road from the Mighty M. Thus the day-night racing began for Stratton — Monticello Raceway in the afternoon and Yonkers Raceway in the evening.

It was that day/night driving combination that permitted Stratton to not only drive 3,836 times during the 2008 campaign but amass a total of 630 victories which placed him fifth best on the North American leaderboard.

That season, too, Stratton became the youngest reinsman to win a driving title at Monticello Raceway in the track’s 50-year history when at age 21 he guided 362 horses to the winner’s circle.

On February 20, 2009, at Yonkers Raceway, “the Kid” joined Walter Case, Jr. as the only other driver at that time to win 1,000 races before his 22nd birthday, which came later on June 30.

Stratton enjoyed his first million dollar season in 2007 when his mounts earned more than $1.82 million. Since then, in what can still be referred to as his fledgling career — he is still only 24 years old — his horses have earned nearly $22 million.

Now married and living in Middletown, N.Y., Stratton usually races only one day a week at Monticello Raceway but still has won 75 races in just over 400 starts. But he’s in action five times weekly at Yonkers.

“I stopped double-duty two years ago and now daily traveling from Monticello to Yonkers is only once as week,” Stratton said. “It seems that I was spending my life driving — either horses or a car — which didn’t leave much time for anything else.”

A youngster who is a perfectionist, Stratton is still sometimes hard on himself and though he’s at the top of his game he will be the first to tell anyone that he is still learning.

“I’m certainly proud of what I have accomplished but now driving consistently with top drivers I still learn things,” he admits.