For the second consecutive season, Jordan Stratton has reined the winner in Monticello Raceway’s Munich Mile, a race which featured drivers with German heritage
. He won in wire-to-wire fashion with R Es Queen Virgina in a time of 1:59 on Monday.
The race was the seventh leg of the track's year-long Heritage Drivers Series and with his victory Stratton, whose German blood comes from his mother’s side, now has earned a berth in the series finale which will be contested in early October.
The event was reduced to seven horses with a late scratch but that made little matter to Stratton when he gunned R Es Queen Virgina to the lead as the wings of the mobile gate folded. They gained command on the first turn and zinged by the quarter in a swift :28. From there Stratton kept the pedal to the metal and sailed by the half in :57.4.
When they reached the third stanza in 1:27:4, R Es Queen Virgina had a solid six length lead and though the seven-year-old Grinfromeartoear mare figured to tire in the lane, Stratton had enough of a lead to prevail; and they did, by two open lengths over a hard charging Armbro Bracken, who was driven by Mike Merton. Chuck Poynton, the winner of this event three years ago, finished third with Moonlit Tori.
“They [the bettors] sent her off as the odds-on favourite and I guess I drove her like she was the best,” Stratton said. “I saw [on the official program] where she wired a field a few races back and she wanted to go today so I just steadied her and let her have her head. She did all the work and we never were in trouble, nor were we even challenged. She won it easily.”
Stratton, who’ll be all of 23 years old on June 30, began his career at The Mighty M and at age 21 he became the youngest driver in Monticello Raceway’s 52 years to win a driving title when his 362 wins in 2008 topped the local leaderboard. Racing at Monticello only part-time this year, Stratton still has managed 72 winners.
(With files from Monticello Raceway)