Bartlett & Sumner Win Yonkers' Spring Titles

Driver Jason Bartlett and trainer Robert Sumner led their respective categories to take home the 2008 Spring Meet titles at Yonkers Raceway.

The Spring Meet began back on April 1 and concluded this past Monday night.

Jason Bartlett, 27, won 114 races from 512 drives (22.2 per cent), two dozen more victories than five-time defending local champ Stephane Bouchard. Jordan Stratton (72), Greg Grismore (53) and Jeff Gregory (52) rounded out the leading quintet.

A native of Windsor, ME, Bartlett – enjoying a career season – won his 2,000th career race this past April.

Bouchard did snatch the money title ($1,274,506 in purses) with Napoleon's stirring victory in this past Saturday night's $605,854 final of the Yonkers Trot.

The 47-year-old , originally from Sacramento, CA, but a New England fixture for years, trained 61 winners from 229 starters (26.6 per cent). The figure was more than double that of Mark Ford (30), though Ford did have 84 fewer starters. Paul Fusco (26), David Stratton (19) and Robert Merton Jr. (17) completed the first flight.