Meadowlands: Bartlett feeling comfortable away from home on Saturdays

There's a misconception some have when it comes to driver Jason Bartlett. The perennial Yonkers driving champion has mastered the half-mile track at the Westchester County oval, but his talents have extended far beyond that location.

"I get the rap that I'm a half-mile track driver," said Bartlett. "It's not about the size of the track, but the quality of the horse you drive that makes the difference."

In fact, Bartlett showed up at the Meadowlands last Saturday and captured a pair of races and returns on Saturday night (Jan. 15) to challenge East Rutherford's finest following five evenings of driving at Yonkers. Bartlett begins his Meadowlands card in the first of 15 races with the Shane Tritton-trained Islandspecialmajor.

"He was a little short last week," said Bartlett of the 9-year-old. "He missed four weeks, and I expect him to be better. We've got a better post, and I think it's a bit weaker field than last time with fewer horses."

Islandspecialmajor drew post five as part of the handicap in the $75,000-$100,000 claimer. Just one of the eight horses in the $25,000 event is in for a higher price tag.

In Saturday's third race Bartlett put forth a cautionary tale for those who just look at the finish position without studying the rest of the past performance lines for Smokin By N.

"He was actually much better than the line looks," said Bartlett. "He got locked on the left line early, and I couldn't get him out. He finished really well."

Smokin By N landed post five in the race for non-winners of $4,000 in their last five starts, a step down for the imported 8-year-old son of Mach Three.

Bartlett was named on three of the eight horses in race six, a non winners of $14,000 last five starts with a purse of $16,500. He drove Always And Again (post eight) to victory against lesser company last Saturday night.

"The trip worked out for him and he finished it off nicely," said Bartlett.

Mayhem Hanover (post one) was also handled by Bartlett a week ago against tougher company and finished seventh after drawing post eight. The pilot suggested post and power could make the difference here.

"He's been racing against better and drew nicely," said Bartlett of Mayhem Hanover, who raced in Open company at the Meadowlands back in November for trainer Jeff Cullipher.

Bartlett seemed quite excited about the prospects for Sonny Weaver N, a 6-year-old he piloted to victory last Saturday night for Cullipher.

"He's a very nice horse," Bartlett said of the imported son of Sunshine Beach that earned over $116K last year. "I think he's a better one-run horse. Two starts back I left with him in 26 and change, and he didn't finish up the mile that well, but last week when I came off cover he came home strongly."

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Bartlett likes post four for Sonny Weaver N, who goes in race eight, and despite the upgrade to non-winners of $20,000, likes his chances.

Bartlett had a choice of two in the 13th race on Saturday night for high-level trotters and took Hammer Time over Kings County in what appeared to be a very easy decision.

"I should have re-moved him to the lead last week, and he would have won for fun," said Bartlett of the Harry Landy-trained Hammer Time. "We got locked in, and I spent much of the stretch trying to find room. He had a ton of go."

Hammer Time drew post four in the non-winners of $10,000 class, and the 8-year-old veteran that spent time off the track doing stallion duty, appears ready to reach the winner's circle once again. Hammer Time's last victory was in July of 2020.

Expect to see Bartlett as a regular at the Meadowlands on Saturday nights through January.

"When Pocono opens again in February I'm going to race there as well," said Bartlett, who was a regular in Pennsylvania last year and put on extra mileage doing so. "It just worked out for me when Pocono decided to race afternoons on most of their days and Sunday evenings. I was able to race there and then drive back to race nights at Yonkers."

Notably, Bartlett's number of mounts increased radically in 2021, though he was a little disappointed in his overall year-end totals. Despite driving 2,963 horses last year, the most he had driven in 12 years, Bartlett's horses earned just $8.6 million, significantly lower than his pre-Covid year totals.

In addition to the 2,963 miles he drove horses in 2021, Bartlett confessed the constant double-headers added 110,000 miles to his car that's just a year and a half old.

"I like the work," said Bartlett, looking forward to a better year overall in 2022.