Jordan Stratton has drawn a good mount and an advantageous post position and is in a good spot to become a repeat winner of Monticello Raceway’s Munich Mile, a race for drivers with German heritage
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On Monday afternoon, July 26 the Munich Mile will be the seventh preliminary leg of Monticello Raceway’s Heritage Drivers Series and the winner will earn an automatic berth in the series finale, the All-America Cup, which will be contested in early October.
Stratton, 22, the youngest driver ever to win a Monticello Raceway driving title two years ago, won last year’s event with West Coast Bad Boy in 1:59.2 and will jump up behind Conquista Hotspur and leave from the coveted pole position. Rated 5-2 on the morning line by track odds-maker John Flynn, Conquista Hotspur, owned and trained by Craig Mosher, is an 11-time winner thus far this season and sports a seasonal best of 1:58 at Freehold Raceway earlier this year. Since the nine-year-old Arts Conquest mare came to the Mighty M on June 1 she has had four wins and one third in six starts.
But Stratton will know he’s in a horse race because his driving competition reeks with talent. Newcomer Tyler Buter, who set a track record a few days ago with Benns Sure Thing, will handle Majors Sweetheart (6-1), a 1:59.2 winner this year and start from the four-hole. Buter, 24 years old, already has reined 1,490 winners and amassed over $8.8 million in purses and is just beginning to get noticed on the east coast.
And Jimmy Marohn, Jr., 28, will be tough to beat when he drives REs Queen Virginia (7-2) from post position two. The seven0year-old Grinfromeartoear mare has five wins under her belt thus far this season. Young Jimmy has 1,242 career wins and 70 this season at the current meet.
Brandon Simpson, another Midwest import with loads of talent who came to Monticello a few months ago, has made the Mighty M his home base and of his 1,112 career wins 80 are from this season and 59 of them here. He’ll handle longshot Odds On Ariel (12-1) from post position five.
Then there’s Monticello’s leading driver Bruce Aldrich, Jr. who’ll have to reach into his bag of tricks to get IC Linda (3-1) in contention after they start from the eight-hole. But she has class and has eight wins thus far this year, the fastest in 1:58. Aldrich’s 208 winners leads the local driving colony.
And Mike Merton with 60 wins at Monticello this year and 1,747 lifetime, will be up behind Armbron Bracken (4-1) and start from Post 7. The Island fantasy mare comes into the event with two consecutive wins; the fastest, a 1:59.4 effort on July 5.
Chuck Poynton, who won this event three years ago has the drive behind six-time winner, Moonlit Tori (9-2) will start from Post 6 and will be a serious factor in the race.
Rounding out the competitive field of drivers is Kevin Hough, last year’s Monticello-Goshen Chapter USHWA’s Rising Star Award winner, who has drawn Early Morning (10-1). They’ll start from the three-hole but they might need some racing luck.
Upon the completion of the Munich Mile, only one preliminary leg remains in the Heritage Drivers Series 2010, that being the Godfather Pace for drivers of Italian descent. However, at press time, the actual date of that race in August has yet to be determined.
First post for the Monday, July 26 racing program will be at 12:50 p.m. The Munich Mile, Race 5on the 13-race card, has a approximate post time of 2:10 p.m.
(Monticello Raceway)