Harness racing fans know that Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. and Bruce
Aldrich, Jr. are top drivers; after all, their records speak for them.
Wrenn’s 658 driving victories is tops in North America while Aldrich’s 588
winners ranks him third in races won on the continent. But are they good
handicappers?
A special provision in this head- to- head competition to be held at Monticello Raceway on Thursday, December 12th is
that each driver had the right to select his own mounts; Wrenn in the
odd-numbered races and Aldrich in the even. And when they didn’t have first
pick they got their second choice.
Prior to their selections someone said that they’ll pick all
the favorites, which is probably so. However, there selections were made prior
to the morning line being posted. Still, here at the Mighty M favorites only
win 38-percent of the time.
Although Wrenn is currently the top driver at Northfield
Park in greater Cleveland, Ohio and races mainly in the Midwest, he has never
been to Monticello which may put him at a slight disadvantage when choosing his
drives.
“I know of Lounsbury and Gill, the top trainers at
Monticello, but there are other trainers who do well with a limited amount of
horses. I’ll first look at post position and then the horses that look the best
in the class before I make my decisions,” Wrenn told sportswriter Debbie Little
who wrote an advance about the competition in the New York Post.
Aldrich, on the other hand, knows the trainers and the
horses at the Mighty M but still feels that is not a great advantage.
“I never did anything like this,” Aldrich said referring to
choosing his own drives. “I stayed with the horses I have been driving but I’m
not sure that they’ll be better than the ones Ronnie picks. It ought to be a
lot of fun and I hope to win my share.”
Wrenn, 27, comes from a harness racing family. His dad
Ron is closing in on 2000 career victories and his Uncle Peter has over 9100
wins. With this, just his fourth full year in the sulky, Ronnie already has
1250 driving victories and in years to come count on that number to be vastly
inflated as he is one of the industry’s rising stars.
Although Aldrich, 42, is a veteran with nearly 4700 driving
victories he was a late starter and the greatest majority of the victories have
come in the 21st Century. A four-time Monticello Raceway driving
champ Bruce will win his fifth championship this year but he has loftier goals.
“I’d like to get 600 wins for the year and with three weeks
and 12 to go I have a decent chance,” Aldrich said.” And if I could finish
third in North America that would be a bonus.”
