Greg Merton wins four; Trainer Jennifer Lappe having a big year

Greg Merton usurped attention from Zeke Parker, when he reined four winners on the Tuesday afternoon , May 4th card at Monticello Raceway. With his four driving victories, Merton is now in third place on the local leaderboard with 85 wins, four behind Billy Dobson’s 89  but both reinsmen trail hot-handed Bruce Aldrich, Jr. who leads the colony with  144 victories.

Merton began the day winning the first race with Richard Carney’s good looking 4-year-old Panderosa gelding, High Point, in a seasonal best of 1:55:4. His next triumph came in the fifth race behind Jay Platt’s  Civilized Hanover  in a 1:56:4 clocking.

Then Merton later  won two races for owner-trainer Jennifer Lappe. He reined Hopulence to his second consecutive victory this week in 1:57:1 and the he won the 12th and final race with Lappe’s Dominus N in 1:58:3.

“It (yesterday) was a perfect day for me,”  Merton said  this morning before he jumped to  drive in a qualifying event. “I had four winners here and two seconds at Yonkers last night and for the day I had four wins and two seconds in seven drives.”

Talk about doing good…. how about Jennifer Lappe?  The talented all around horsewoman from Campbell Hall, NY -she also drives and even shoes her own horses--- is second in wins on the trainers leaderboard with 36. And that amount was produced in just 83 starts! When you add 21 seconds and five thirds to her totals she’s cruising along with an incredible .594 universal training percentage.

Not to be forgotten, but overshadowed on Tuesday, Zeke Parker managed one driving victory and now needs just five  more for 10,000. (Monticello)

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