BY
FRANK DRUCKER, Publicity Director, Empire City @ Yonkers Raceway
YONKERS, NY, Thursday, December 20, 2018—To the
surprise of very few, Jason Bartlett
and Rene Allard were Yonkers Raceway’s leading 2018 driver and trainer,
respectively.
The
237-program season (one postponement), which concluded this past Sunday (Dec.
16th), saw Bartlett roll along to an eighth local title.
The
37-year-old Bartlett, originally from Augusta, ME, was both the winningest
(485) and busiest (2,328) driver, winning at a 20.8 percent clip. His $8.8
million in purses also led the list.
Jordan
Stratton was again second, this time with 371 wins and $7.3 million in purses,
with the top five win list completed by George Brennan (345), Jim Marohn Jr.
(167) and Brent Holland (164
).
Allard,
a 31-year-old Quebecois now operating out of Matamoras, PA, took down the
Westchester prize for the second time in the last three seasons. He sent out
178 winners from 843 starters (21.1 percent winning percentage), leading in
purses ($3.55 million). Scott DiDomenico (160 wins), Richard Banca (141) Ron
Burke (113) and Jennifer Bongiorno (71) completed the first quintet among wins.
The
Raceway’s 234-program, 2019 season is set to begin Monday night (Jan. 7th),
with a first post of 6:50 PM, A complete schedule accompanies this release,
with all dates pending approval of the New York State Gaming Commission.
