Aldrich began his assault in sterling fashion winning the
first three races on the 11-race card. He scored behind Don Brainard’s Dolly
Dagger ($14.00) in 2:00.1 in the first and then reined Majestic View
Farms 4-year-old trotter Majestic Moment ($3.70) to his third
consecutive victory in the second race. Aldrich’s hat-trick triumph
was with Art Jones’ He’s Great ($6.00) in 2:00 flat.
Win number five came behind Al Annunziata’s trotter Konchie
($14.00) in 2:03.2 in rcae six and then Aldrich won the 11th
and final race with Paul Felsher’s Multiple Choice ($4.90) in 2:00.1.
Contacted in the paddock after his third consecutive victory
Aldrich said he had four more drives on the card and then added “If I get lucky
I can win six today,” but he had to settle for just five trips to the winners
circle, which is a total that almost any driver would be proud of.
Now a resident and member of the Saratoga Harness driving
colony Aldrich spent the winter months competing over the Mighty M oval he
knows so well. And his MO is different now than it was when he was a Monticello
Raceway regular in that he just drives and leaves the training to others.
Aldrich, who found a home here in the late 1990’s reined
2353 winners from 2000 through 2009 but over those years he copped just one
driving title (2001) although he has been among the top three in races won
nearly every season. However in 2010 Aldrich drove 449 winners, second best
behind Zeke Parker’s track record 526 during 1995.
Then again during the 2011 season Aldrich added another 410
victories to he=is career total and now has driven 4174 winners and
his mounts have earned purses of $13,530.504.
“Although Saratoga (Springs) is home now I still want to
race at Monticello on the days that Saratoga is dark,” Aldrich said. “I’ve been
driving for some top trainers and maybe if I can get enough starts I can once
again compete for another driving title here.”
