Driver Jordan Stratton talks Covered Bridge, a second consecutive Gold Cup and Saucer triumph and one special fan.

by Melissa Keith

Driving to Yonkers Raceway on Monday afternoon (Aug. 19), Jordan Stratton recalled his weekend like it was almost a dream. On Saturday night (Aug. 17), he had teamed up with Covered Bridge at Red Shores Charlottetown, becoming the first horse and driver to win back-to-back Gold Cup and Saucer finals since Sand Olls Dexter and Mark MacDonald in 2003-2004.

“Maybe the downside of the game is, you can be on top of the world one day but the show goes on,” Stratton told HRU. “You’ve gotta go back to work.”

The Montgomery, NY horseman almost didn’t get a chance to defend the 2023 Gold Cup and Saucer title he shared with Covered Bridge (p, 4, 1:48.3m; $1,344,523).

“Originally he was going to skip it, because it is a lot to ship all the way up there, and like I said in the [post-race] interview, the horse maybe wasn’t quite as sharp as he was last year,” said Stratton, who has driven Covered Bridge in all but three starts this year.

Owner Mark Ford and trainer Jeff Gillis ultimately decided that Covered Bridge would return to Prince Edward Island for this year’s Old Home Week.

“You can’t take anything away from [Covered Bridge],” said Stratton. “He had a tremendous year last year, traveling all over. But he was kind of off in the [2024] Borgata [Series], and at the end of the day, they had a couple of days before they had to enter, and they kind of felt like they owed it to the people of Charlottetown to bring him back.”

Covered Bridge finished second to Fortify in his 2024 Gold Cup Trial for catch driver Jody Jamieson.

“Jody did a great job,” said Stratton. “He didn’t do anything wrong. Covered Bridge will win on the front, but his ultimate best game is that trip that he got in the final, just chasing down horses, and he raced right to the wire.”

The New York-based horseman came to Charlottetown to drive Covered Bridge in the Gold Cup and Saucer final, giving the 8-year-old gelding a winning trip informed by years of racing together at Yonkers.

“Fortify is a great horse, but they’ve raced at Yonkers for a couple of years together now, and Covered Bridge is just maybe a step above Fortify,” said Stratton. “Save America did a ton of work to come first over and clear, so I had a feeling he would be getting tired. My horse felt so good when I moved him that I felt pretty confident.”

The 37-year-old reinsman added that Covered Bridge responded well to fresh grass, saltwater walks, and downtime in PEI.

“I think it’s really good for a horse to maybe just wind down for a little bit. They’re such tough animals and they have a full schedule, and when they race in the elimination and then have an easy week, they come into the final fresh,” he said.

The brief working vacation was worth it for horse and driver.

“He’s been a really good horse his whole life,” Stratton said. “I believe Howie Okusko broke him and raced him in the [New York] Sires Stakes… Later] Ron Burke had a great career with him, and he ended up with Jeff Gillis. He bought him online, and he’s just blossomed with him.”

The $100,000 Gold Cup and Saucer is an event that Stratton said he fantasized about winning.

“For years, I’ve always made it a point to watch the race,” he said. “I just couldn’t believe it when [the cameras] pan over the crowd and it’s elbow-to-elbow. And then when the lights go out and they do the post parade and introduce each horse, I wouldn’t even be in the race and I’d be getting goosebumps.”

When Gillis asked Stratton about driving Covered Bridge in the 2023 edition, the driver didn’t hesitate. “I absolutely jumped at the opportunity, and I was very, very glad I did,” he said.

Stratton added that there was no element of showboating when he took Covered Bridge along the Red Shores Charlottetown fence after either Gold Cup and Saucer victory.

“Not at all,” he said. “The reason I did it the first year is, we had crossed the wire and I was having some trouble pulling him up, so I took him to the outside fence. All of a sudden, [Covered Bridge] completely dropped the lines and his ears perked forward, like he almost couldn’t believe it himself. So I started walking him, and he was perfect. He would stop, his ears were still forward, he wasn’t kicking, so I just went with it. Someone reached out to pet him, and he was hamming it up more than I was.”

In a moment of inspiration, Stratton gave away his driving helmet to a young fan after this year’s return to the Gold Cup and Saucer winner’s circle.

“Something was telling me that was the right thing to do,” he said.

“I didn’t want to give my helmet away, but I saw that kid and something overcame me,” Stratton said. “It was immediate — he had to have the helmet. I heard the backstory afterwards, and I was very glad I had given him my helmet. I hope it can bring a bright spot in his life.”

The young fan, Brayden White, has a developmental disability and was making one last trip to the races with his respite worker of the past 12 years, Kim MacKenzie, before moving into new residence, MacIntyre House.

“This happened to be the last weekend he could come to the track,” said Stratton, clearly moved by the encounter. He happily gave White the keepsake of a lifetime.

“It’s amazing how the stars align. I found out that last year in school, all he could talk about was me winning the Gold Cup. I found this all out afterward. I’m not really religious, but something told me that this was the right thing to do. I’m glad I trusted the gut instinct.”

By Monday, the weekend seemed like a dream.

“Yonkers has been very good to me,” said the winning reinsman, enroute to the New York track where he sits atop the current drivers’ standings.

Asked about the relative lack of on-track audience at Yonkers, even on major race dates, Stratton replied that tracks with a backstretch fare better than those without when cultivating atmosphere around big races.

“[Red Shores Charlottetown] has a history, and management and horsemen work together for that day, and everyone collaborates to get that Old Home Week feeling,” he said.

“It’s kind of lost down here, where it’s always about the grind and ‘where are we racing next?’ You always hear stories about how people used to go have cookouts afterwards and there was a little more camaraderie. Now, I hate to say it, but it’s pretty cutthroat, down here at least.”

Stratton added that a successful event like the Gold Cup and Saucer is never just about celebrating one person, even when that person is a history-making driver.

“I appreciate all the accolades people have given me, but at the end of the day, I’m just a part of Old Home Week just as much as anyone else,” Stratton said. “Before I got there, there was a whole week of festivities and races and celebrations. I’m glad that I was the cherry on top, but it’s a long way from all my doing.”

While forever associated with another older pacer from Yonkers, winning Gold Cup and Saucer 65 with Covered Bridge has brought Stratton another career highlight.

“I don’t think anybody will come close to Bit Of A Legend N [p, 9, 1:49.4h; $2,569,621], just because he was really the first great horse that I got to be primary driver on. But Covered Bridge, those memories I have up there, it’s going to be very tough to top,” he said.