To say that Bruce Aldrich, Jr. is enjoying the best season of his career would be an understatement. On Wednesday, December 22 at Monticello Raceway, the Vermont native added six more driving victories to his seasonal total at the 'Mighty M' and now has 442 for the year.
Aldrich’s six wins came with Sophisticat -- who notched her 18th seasonal victory, which is currently the most wins by any trotter in North America in 2010 -- Wolfs Fawn, Chippendale Dancer, Mattazuma, Distinct Victory and Auditor N.
April Aldrich has won the training title at Monticello Raceway over the course of the past three seasons. This year she will win her fourth consecutive title and fifth overall. With 188 winners at the 'Mighty M,' she has already surpassed her own track record of 171 victories, a mark she established in the 2007 season.
For the season -- prior to the racing card of December 23 -- Aldrich has 188 wins, 118 seconds, and 90 thirds in 642 starts.
Quietly and without much fanfare, her .442 UTR is currently tops in the nation, and in recent weeks, with a flurry of winners from her barn, she has put some distance between herself and runner-up Lou Pena, who currently has a .428 UTR.
As the trainer of the racing stable she shares with her husband, Bruce Aldrich, Jr., April is en route to winning the National Training Percentage Title for conditioners that have started 500 or more horses during the season.
With just nine days left in the 2010 season, her .442 training clip appears to be able to hold up for the national title.
“This (the training title) is something I never even thought about,” she said. “Bruce and I are having a great year with a stable of honest, hard-hitting race horses who have fit well in the classes in which they have been racing. But to win a national title would be just mind-boggling.”
No fewer than seven of the horses in the Aldrich barn have 10 or more wins this year, led by Sophisticat, whose 18 wins is currently tops for trotters in North America.
“But,” Aldrich cautions, "with nine more racing dates this year, I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch.”
(Monticello)