The curtain fell on the 2024 racing season at Monticello Raceway with Laura Aldrich grabbing her second consecutive training title at the Mighty M and Mike Merton taking home top driver honors for the first time. For Merton it was his third time as leading driver at his hometown track.
Merton handily took the 2024 title with a 14-win cushion of 241 wins and earnings of $1,064,580. In addition to competing at Monticello, Merton also drove successfully at Tioga Downs where he was second with 87 wins and $674,185 in earnings. His brother Greg finished second at Monticello with 227 winning drives and earnings of $997,680. Former multiple-time leading driver James Taggart Jr. was third with 196 wins, and Taggart also eclipsed the million dollar mark with purses of $1,016,101. Bruce Aldrich Jr., another driver with multiple titles at Monticello, finished fourth with 196 wins. Kyle Dibenedetto had an excellent year with 133 trips to the winner's circle to take the fifth slot. Thomas Merton also broke into the top ten with 125 wins, which was good enough for eighth place, as the powerful Merton clan continues to be a mainstay at Monticello Raceway.
The last two scheduled racing days of the 2024 season were canceled due to warming temperatures impacting the racing surface. The loss of the two dates may have had an impact on the race for leading trainer as Monica Eriksen was loaded with entries on Monday and Tuesday in an effort to catch Aldrich, but was thwarted with the forced cancelation. Aldrich, who was also 2023's leading trainer, copped the 2024 title in a tight battle with Eriksen, as Aldrich had 104 winners from her barn, while Eriksen was second with 100 winners. Gary Messenger took the show spot with 73, Art Green had 53 winners and Dany Gill was fourth win 68 wins. Former leading trainer Robert Lounsbury finished the year with 48 wins, and Lounsbury trains the 2024 Horse of the Year Promise For Life.
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In 2024 Monticello saw a few new faces that competed successfully. Fern Paquet, who raced most of the year at the oval, had 71 wins, while newcomer Dan Rawlings had 56 wins in his short stint. McGwire Sowers split his time between Monticello and Maine, coming in with respective numbers in both driving and training. He had 96 winning drives and purses worth $374,059, while on the training side of the ledger, he had 38 wins worth $168,295.
2025 looks to be an exciting year at the 67-year-old Catskill Mountain half-mile oval with the influx of some fresh blood in the way of new drivers and trainers. Rawlings and Paquet Jr. will look to make a bigger impact in the driver's colony while trainers Anthony Regina, Richard Campolong and Rahiem Strong are all coming off career-best seasons and look to continue the momentum into 2025.
--edited press release (Monticello)--