Bruce Aldrich Jr. is en route to his best season ever. Now just driving and leaving the training to others, he seems to be at his best every time he jumps behind a horse.

“I was thinking about giving up my big public stable for a long time now, but this year I finally did it. Not having to be at the barn early in the morning and put my horses through their paces makes it a whole lot easier for me,” Aldrich explained. “Now I can concentrate on my driving and I think that has really helped me a lot when I’m on the racetrack.”

Having a big public stable would make it nearly impossible for Aldrich to drive at both Monticello Raceway and at Saratoga Raceway on the same days, which was something he had been doing since Saratoga opened in the spring. And he has been successful at both places. He currently leads all drivers at the 'Mighty M' with 207 winners, and his 88 wins at Saratoga ranks him second behind Billy Dobson’s 118.

On Monday, July 8 at Monticello Raceway, Aldrich kept his ball rolling when he added five more wins to his seasonal resume. He now has 295 driving victories this year, which ranks him seventh in races won on the North American leaderboard.

Aldrich began the afternoon with a 1:57.2 victory with Frank Cuccio’s Seeyouonthebeach ($4.20) in the second race and then copped the fourth behind Al Annunziata’s trotter Distinct Victory ($3.30) in 2:02.

Aldrich didn’t win another race until the tenth and then he swept the last three.

He won the 10th with Stanley Indig’s trotter Miley Jo ($3.60) in a 2:00.2 clocking and came right back in the next race and scored a longshot victory with Ruth Ingham’s Lightning Madison ($18.60) in 1:59.4.

In the final contest on the card, Aldrich reined Norm Bradbury’s pacing mare, Red Eye Blue Chip ($3.50), to her 10th seasonal triumph in a 1:57.4 clocking.

Aldrich got a reprieve of sorts on Monday when he didn’t have to travel back to Saratoga Raceway because that track is dark on Mondays. He won’t have to be back on the road until Wednesday when he’ll drive at Monticello in the afternoon and then travel 165 miles to Saratoga to drive at night. Once at Saratoga, he can drive at the Spa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, days that Monticello is dark.

It’s easy to see why Aldrich gave up his stable.

“If I had a public stable there no way I could do my horses right and try to race at two tracks that are so far apart,” he said. "Someday I’ll have a public stable, but that’s probably down the road a ways.”

(Monticello)