JORDAN STRATTON’S STAR STILL RISING

December 14, 2011, by John Manzi, Publicity Director, Monticello Raceway

When he began his career at Monticello Raceway back in 2006 Jordan Stratton was impressive right from the start and  although he has had many personal milestones his star just keeps rising.

            Stratton  hustled home Da Vinci for one of  3 wins

 on the Dec. 13 card at Monticello (Geri Schwarz Photo)

On the afternoon of Tuesday, December 13 Stratton won three races at Monticello Raceway and after traveling to his home base at Yonkers Raceway in the evening the youngster scored three more driving victories. The six wins that day raised Stratton’s seasonal total to 223 and now in less than five  years of competitive driving Stratton  needs just 41 more winners to reach 2000 career victories.

As a son of  longtime horseman, Dave Stratton,  young Jordan learned his lessons from the ground up.

Jordan Stratton (Geri Schwarz Photo)

“Dad taught us right,” Stratton dad also to referring to his younger brother Cory. “We did all the things  kids would do around the barns like mucking stalls and  hot-walking horses and we learned  how to take care of a horse before we  even were allowed to jog. But I believe all that formative stuff makes a great foundation for any horseman.”

Stratton’s decision to pursue a career in racing can be traced back to 2001, when he was the groom for two-time Ohio Sires Stakes champion Noble Cam, trained by his father. Later one of Stratton’s early memorable moments came in August 2006 when he drove Noble Cam to victory at Monticello Raceway in an amateur event.

After displaying his prowess against amateur drivers Stratton  the became a force in the professional ranks. In fact he was so prolific that in 2007 that  he won 285 races and earned the moniker  of “the Kid” which was apropos since he was just 19 years old.  That year  young Stratton developed into a force to be reckoned with. With his burgeoning talent being noticed by the local training community “The Kid” became a well sought after catch-driver.

He developed so quickly that he began to get  drives at Yonkers Raceway, just 90 miles down the road from the Mighty M. Thus the day-night  racing began for Stratton---- Monticello Raceway in the afternoon and Yonkers Raceway in the evening.

It was that day/night driving combination that permitted Stratton to not only drive 3836 times during the 2008 campaign but amass a total of 630 victories which placed him fifth best on the North American leaderboard.

That season, too,  Stratton became the youngest  reinsman to win a driving title at Monticello Raceway in the  tracks 50-year history when at age 21 he guided 362 horses to the winners circle.

On February 20, 2009 at Yonkers Raceway  “the Kid”  joined Walter Case, Jr. as the only other driver at that time to win 1000 races before his 22^nd birthday, which came later on June 30.

Stratton enjoyed his first million dollar season in 2007 when his mounts earned over 1.82 million. Since then, in what can still be referred to as ‘his fledgling career’ –his till only24 years old—his horses have earned nearly $22 million.

Now married and living in Middletown, NY  Stratton usually races only one day a week at Monticello Raceway but still has won 75 races in just over 400 starts. Buty he’s in action five times weekly at Yonkers.

"I stopped during double-duty two years ago and now daily traveling from Monticello to Yonkers  is only once as week,” Stratton said. “It seems that I was spending my life driving--- either horses or a car--- which didn’t leave much time for anything else.”

A youngster who is a perfectionist Stratton  is still  sometimes hard on himself and though he’s at  the top of his game he will be the first to tell anyone that he still is learning.

“I’m certainly proud of what I have accomplished but now driving consistently with top drivers I still learn things,” he admits.