Driver Jason Bartlett is nipping at the heels of the current leading race-winning driver in North America
. Entering Monday, Bartlett had 673 wins to Jody Jamieson's 679.
Jamieson has said he's pointed for the Canadian single-season record of 739, set in 2006 by Mark MacDonald, so he's unlikely to back down any time soon. Will Bartlett try to get past him in the final furlong of the year?
"I'm just going to let whatever happens, happen," Bartlett said. "I'm just pretty much going to stay where I am (based at Yonkers Raceway from his home in Goshen, New York). I'm actually losing a day coming up because Pocono Downs is closing on Wednesdays and I've been going there. Plus, Saratoga won't be racing on Sundays anymore, so around here, there aren't a lot of tracks to race on Sundays."
It's been a giant leap for Bartlett, who went from winning 350 races and making $597,054 in purses in 2005 to making 20 times that amount ($10.2 million) so far in 2009. He's been first or second in many New York Sires Stakes races, plus the Babic and the Art Rooney Pace.
Bartlett spent about a week out of the country representing the United States in the World Driving Championships, while his competitors were getting a jump on him, and he says he could have taken advantage of more days to drive at two tracks early in the season, but he's philosophical.
"I'm very thankful for what I have," Bartlett said. "If it's going to happen, it'll happen. I never thought that I'd even be in the position I am, in the running for it. It's a surprise that I'm this close.
"Obviously, it'd be anybody's dream to win the dash title, but I'm just happy to be in contention. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be."
Bartlett, a native of Augusta, Maine, who learned the sport from his grandfather, highly respected Maine trainer Dick Bartlett, started driving primarily in New York in 2007. He says the change was "110 percent" the right move.
"I love it down here," Bartlett said. "I love where I live (in Goshen, home of the Harness Racing Museum and adjacent Historic Track). It's a good place for my son (toddler Kobe) to grow up. I'm in the middle of a lot of tracks for New York Sire Stakes and stake races."
Bartlett also occasionally goes west to Pocono. "Pocono is close," says Bartlett. "When I have a free day in the afternoon (I have time to make it back to Yonkers). I'm only an hour from Yonkers, too."
Bartlett has teamed with fellow driver Jordan Stratton to conserve horsepower, too.
"Jordan and I switch back and forth (driving the car) going to Yonkers," Bartlett said. "One guy drives one night and the other drives the next. I actually bought a hybrid last year, a Nissan Ultima, and it's been real good on gas mileage, about 35 to 40 miles to the gallon."
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This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S.
Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com. *