Greg Merton is closing in on 3,000 career wins, most of which have be recorded at his hometown racetrack, Monticello Raceway. On the track's Monday, March 22 card, the Monticello native steered two more winners, and is now just 12 victories from a career milestone.
His first victory on the card came in the ninth race when he guided Sweetys Finale to a gate-to-wire triumph. Merton, 36, then won Race 10 behind Polly S Turr.
With those victories, Merton now has 58 for the meet, which ranks him third on the local leaderboard behind Bruce Aldrich, Jr. (92) and Bill Dobson (76).
“When Bruce Aldrich ( Jr.) was checking on his computer the other day, he mentioned to me that I was closing in on 3,000 wins, too” Merton said. “I knew I was getting close, but I tried not to think about it and just keep giving it a shot. I believe when you start thinking about things like that you put pressure on yourself and I don’t want to do that.”
The lanky reinsman first sat behind a standardbred racehorse in 1989 when he won three of seven amateur races at the 'Mighty M.' After a little more than a handful of drives, Merton’s career didn’t really get underway until 1995 when the home-grown product won 36 races that season. And it wasn’t until 1999 that he topped the century plateau in races won during a single season. That year he reined 170 winners, and the following year he vaulted to the top in races won at Monticello when he finished the season with 274 driving victories.
After Merton's 1999 campaign, only the 2002 and 2003 racing campaigns saw the pilot win less than 200 races (152 wins in 2002 and 174 in 2003). During 2005 he raced to his second Monticello driving championship.
(With files from Monticello)