Aaron Merriman is awful

[Harness racer]

They all driver for dopers.  He's just a big fish in a mostly talentless pond.  Dave Palone syndrome!   

[rainman2]

Yeah he's awful LOL

Starts - 1548
Wins - 329
Seconds - 280
Thirds - 218
UDRS - .360
Earnings - 2,683,967   so 5% = 134.2k in almost 5 months of work.

FYI, Deaton won as many races as Aaron on the card with quite a few less drives too.

[Chips N Salsa]

i dont think he is over rated. i think he is exactly what he is. name one top driver who doesnt drive for dopers. its really al about the power in what you have the oppurtunity to drive. a driver may produce a win or 2 here and there but you need power. aaron is personable enough and likeable enuough to get good trainers to drive for because he put the work in. you cant make chicken soup out of chicken shit.  i dont care how good your hands are.

I don't think he is a top 10 or even a top 20 driver in the country.  He's a claiming / overnight driver.  He's not a driver he is a gunner.  Plain and simple he drives with zero strategy and will never when on the big stage.  It doesn't take talent to do what he does.  He wins because he drives for dope trainers and he has enough drives to constantly bully his way to the front on a regular basis.  I could take anyone of a handful of the cowboys in Ohio IF I had enough horses and Aaron Merrriman would become a distant memory.  All it takes is someone with enough horses and enough balls to go to front each and every race and Merriman wouldn't know what to do.  If he was so good he should go to Yonkers or Meadowlands but he knows he would get demolished out there.

[rainman2]

I don't think he is a top 10 or even a top 20 driver in the country.  He's a claiming / overnight driver.  He's not a driver he is a gunner.  Plain and simple he drives with zero strategy and will never when on the big stage.  It doesn't take talent to do what he does.  He wins because he drives for dope trainers and he has enough drives to constantly bully his way to the front on a regular basis.  I could take anyone of a handful of the cowboys in Ohio IF I had enough horses and Aaron Merrriman would become a distant memory.  All it takes is someone with enough horses and enough balls to go to front each and every race and Merriman wouldn't know what to do.  If he was so good he should go to Yonkers or Meadowlands but he knows he would get demolished out there.

And Aaron and this group race to the 1/4 pole with cheaper horses than they do at Yonkers! 
Would be fun to add Aaron to the Rosecroft ‘drivers’ and how fast the 1/4 mile times are there!

[JENNY FROM THE BLOCK]

i think your high! he would do just fine out east if that was something he would want to do. those top ten guys you all like to blow wouldnt be much with out burke,takter,engblom,cullipher, pelling etc... and to be honest there aint much out east any more. ill list my thoughts
david miller- best chance to win with any horse dope or no dope
yannick needs power and dope
dunn needs power and dope
kakaley drives for power and dope
bartlett drives for power and dope
wrenn drives for power and dope
all the good drivers get the doped ponies. makes their jobs real easy. all the have to do is not get locked in.

[rainman2]

i think your high! he would do just fine out east if that was something he would want to do. those top ten guys you all like to blow wouldnt be much with out burke,takter,engblom,cullipher, pelling etc... and to be honest there aint much out east any more. ill list my thoughts
david miller- best chance to win with any horse dope or no dope
yannick needs power and dope
dunn needs power and dope
kakaley drives for power and dope
bartlett drives for power and dope
wrenn drives for power and dope
all the good drivers get the doped ponies. makes their jobs real easy. all the have to do is not get locked in.

You missed a few names!! 
Can you list a few more??

[JENNY FROM THE BLOCK]

allard drives for dopers not sure why anyone would use him
trace drives for dopers mainly george
tony morgan gives the dope to people he drives for
palone  some dopers but he is very good and i put him with dave miller
zeron is ok but still drives for dopers a lot
brennan drives for dopers
who else do you want?

[Indian24]

These 6 combined won’t win as many as Aaron does this year alone.

Put David or Elliott on Reds stock and they will win just as many 😏 All about horse power 

[Chips N Salsa]

You could take any of the top 6 drivers Tetrick, Gingras, Dunn, Zeron, and McCarthy's and move them to Ohio and they would be number 1 in 3 months.  It would be like sending Mookie Betts to Triple A ball. Merriman tried the Meadowlands before and through up doughnuts.  He can't drive on a mile track nor can he drive and trip one out.  What do Herve, Palone, Merriman and Morgan have in common?  - Bunch of meaningless numbers that at the end of the day don't mean much except to stat keepers.  BTW if Merriman was so good why didn't Doc Moore have him come drive the colt in the Metro?

[rainman2]

You could take any of the top 6 drivers Tetrick, Gingras, Dunn, Zeron, and McCarthy's and move them to Ohio and they would be number 1 in 3 months.  It would be like sending Mookie Betts to Triple A ball. Merriman tried the Meadowlands before and through up doughnuts.  He can't drive on a mile track nor can he drive and trip one out.  What do Herve, Palone, Merriman and Morgan have in common?  - Bunch of meaningless numbers that at the end of the day don't mean much except to stat keepers.  BTW if Merriman was so good why didn't Doc Moore have him come drive the colt in the Metro?

Some drivers can 'make speed' and some can't.  Looks like he can't.  Ron Waples won many big races by giving his horses a good trip (being in the right place at the right time) and reaping the rewards. 

[Chips N Salsa]

A great driver can win anyway they have to.  They are multi dimensional.  Merriman has one dimension - go to front.  If that doesn't work - abort mission and wait till next race.

[Ramnap]

Just remember you guys are witnessing history Aaron will go down as the greatest or one of the greatest drivers to ever sit behind a horse. We are lucky that we got to see him drive or actually had him drive some of our horses. Since the moment Aaron got his license he's never taken his eye off the ball he is the picture of excellence and consistency. He's been knocked down many times but he gets right back up. And no I'm not a family member just somebody that knows talent when they see it.

[rainman2]

Just remember you guys are witnessing history Aaron will go down as the greatest or one of the greatest drivers to ever sit behind a horse. We are lucky that we got to see him drive or actually had him drive some of our horses. Since the moment Aaron got his license he's never taken his eye off the ball he is the picture of excellence and consistency. He's been knocked down many times but he gets right back up. And no I'm not a family member just somebody that knows talent when they see it.

Thank you for your post here.  FYI, driving at Northfield and The Meadows isn’t proof of any talent especially with the addition of VLT’S (SLOTS). All it means is bigger purses and bigger paychecks for owners, trainers, and drivers. Look how much Northfield has changed over the years before and after slots. Northfield had bigger betting pools and yes 1500 purses when everyone was trying to survive by taking the pools down, compared to all the medical technology of today. At least Dave Palone drove Grand Circuit and important races. Will Aaron?  Probably not, but time will tell.

[Ramnap]

Aaron do us all the favor and win the jug with clever Cody this year.

[brownmoose13]

Aaron do us all the favor and win the jug with clever Cody this year.

If and its a big if Merriman drives Clever Cody in the Jug Merriman will go as far as Cody takes him but that's a long way off. I have no dog in the fight but at Northfield on any given race you are lucky if there are 4 guys that can drive. When Merriman goes to Scioto he is basically lost as the driver colony is great. If Merriman drove every day at Scioto he would be lucky if he made the top 10 in the driver standings. At Northfield he goes to the front and the others are afraid to pull. It is interesting to see at Northfield when Amac and Merriman are in the same race who can get to the top the fastest.