by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — It was probably inevitable. Sooner or later Tracys Song was either going to be claimed or be moved out of town. Not wanting to lose her, trainer Bob Lounsbury conferred with owner Nancy Fugere and together they decided that the latter was a better option.

“I know we’ve been taking our chances by continuing with her in the $7,500 claiming ranks here at Monticello, but recently a storm seems to be brewing about claiming her,” Lounsbury said. “Since we don’t want to race against the boys and Monticello doesn’t offer claiming races for mares higher than $7,500, we decided to take her out of town and try our luck at Tioga (Downs).”

Geri Schwarz photo

Tracys Song will look to extend her winning streak to 19 on Saturday at Tioga Downs.

Although they found out that Tioga Downs doesn’t have claiming races for mares higher than $7,500 either, the racing office there uses the classified system and they write races for mares only, which was Lounsbury and Fugere’s deciding factor.

“’Tracy’ was classified C2 and has drawn post position four in the fourth race which is strictly for fillies and mares,” Lounsbury related. “The morning line rates her at 5-1 and since we’ve never raced her on a five-eighths(-mile track) it’ll be hard to truly assess our chances. But one thing is for sure, win or lose, we’ll still have her in the barn after the race.”

Tracys Song, as most know, leads North America in races won this year with 18, and incredibly they are all consecutive victories. She erased the Monticello Raceway mark for most wins in a row when she scored her 16th victory on May 20.

When Greg Merton drives her on Saturday, it will be only the second time that Bruce Aldrich, Jr. won’t handle the driving chores. When Tracys Song won the 12th race on June 3 for her 18th consecutive triumph, Pat Beeler was at the controls because Aldrich was hurt in a terrible accident earlier on the card. Aldrich wasn’t seriously hurt and was back driving two days later.

“Though Greg (Merton) has never driven her before, he’s a good driver and he knows the track there at Tioga, so we’ll hope for the best on Saturday,” Lounsbury added.