MR - KEVIN SWITZER, JR., ANOTHER MAINER, TO TRY LUCK AT THE MIGHTY M THIS SEASON

It’s not that Monticello Raceway is giving away anything special but over the years it has always been a track where drivers aspiring for bigger and better things wanted to come to race. Perhaps it’s the Mighty M’s locale, being so close to metropolitan New York racing, or that if they do well they’ll get noticed.  And after making a name for themselves here it’s easier to  move on to Yonkers Raceway, or more recently, the Meadowlands .

Whatever it is in the Pine Tree State it seems to amass a bevy of talented drivers. Many like Walter Case, Jr. and  Billy Zeke” Parker, Jr., headed to the Mighty M where they became nationally acclaimed .

Now, another youngster, Kevin Switzer, Jr. plans on trying his luck at Monticello Raceway, and hopefully  follow in the footsteps of the aforementioned  Mainers. And by all indications Switzer seems to have the credentials to succeed.

On the Mighty M Monday afternoon card of March 12^th  Switzer  reined a pair of winners. He won the featured pace with  Michael Pease’s,  LM Elika in 1:57.4 and  scored again behind Danbry Racing Inc’s Lucky Angel in 1:58.4. Perhaps, and more importantly for Switzer, is that eight trainers entrusted their mounts to him. And on the Tuesday, March 13^th card he has nine drives which is a good sign that the local trainers are availing themselves of his talents.

Son of talented horseman and outstanding  driver  Kevin Switzer (Sr.), Kevin Jr.  has been racing here this winter but many times drivers just use the Mighty M because there aren’t many other places to race when the snow flies. So it seemed only natural to ask Switzer Jr. if he planned on racing here this season.

“Yes I do,” he answered to the above query when contacted in  the paddock after his driving victory with LM Elika. “ I am in the process of renting a house and I plan to race here all season long.”

The comments weren’t favorably received  by Susan  Higgins, the marketing director at  Scarborough Downs where Switzer  became a standout driver in recent seasons. When told of Switzer’s plans  she responded via email “I’m sad to hear that Kevin Jr. won’t be with us this year.”

Kevin Switzer Jr. hustles Lucky Angel to a 1:58.4 victory despite starting from the eight-hole (Gerri Schwarz Photo)

That will definitely prove to be  true should Kevin Jr. do as well  in future months as he has done thus far this season at the Mighty M.

Now with 14 winners , 21 seconds and 14 thirds in 111 starts Switzer’s currently carrying a UDR of .273. Last year, mostly at Maine racetracks, the 24 year old Switzer won 310 races and finished the year with an extremely  creditable .378 UDR.

“I’m very glad that Kevin has decided to stay and race with us this season,” noted Eric Warner, the Mighty M’s Director of Racing. “He will be an asset to our local driving community.”