Bruce Aldrich Jr. reached the 9,000 career win milestone, driving the aptly named trotter Win And Dream to victory in the Wednesday, Feb. 25 opener at Monticello Raceway. 

Aldrich worked out a pocket trip for the eight-year-old Winning Fireworks-Crystas Dream gelding, who won the $8,219 conditioned optional claiming trot in 2:01.3 over the "good" track at 7-1 odds. Win And Dream is owned and trained by Steven Ray of South New Berlin, New York.

Born into a family of rich New England harness racing heritage, Aldrich's father Basil has been competing long before the United States Trotting Association even began record-keeping. With Aldrich being indoctrinated at an early age, it didn’t take long before he got the harness racing itch and started his own career.

Aldrich's first year of racing was 1985, finishing third in his only start, and gradually from there he continued his journey. In a short span of five years, he had 189 wins and earnings of $172,803.

Aldrich has been a mainstay at Monticello Raceway for decades. The 57-year-old reinsman is a six-time leading dash-winning driver at Monticello. In his career, he has been behind the starting gate more than 53,600 times with career earnings of more than $28.1 million. He has earned more than $1 million per year in purses 17 times thus far in his career, with his best year in 2015 when he earned more than $3.3 million and won 663 races.

Following his 9,000th milestone win on Wednesday, Aldrich was greeted in the winner's circle by friends and his fellow drivers to celebrate the achievement. 

He wasted no time in his quest towards the next milestone, scoring with the Jennifer Petrelli-trained trotter Kenobi just two races later.

(With files from Monticello Raceway)