by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — Win streaks come and go but when a horse strings together eight wins in a row it’s quite special.

Case in point: Tracys Song. The 8-year-old Astreos mare scored her eighth consecutive victory at Monticello Raceway on Monday afternoon (March 11) with Bruce Aldrich, Jr. at the controls.

Geri Schwarz photo

Tracys Song ran her winning streak to eight on Monday at Monticello.

With her usual front-running style, Tracys Song out-footed her competition away from the gate from the six hole and grabbed command before the quarter-mile timer read :28.4.

Then challenged on the outside, first by Jkdiamondsnpearls (Zeke Parker) and then by Skyway Hanover (Austin Siegelman), Tracys Song kept rebuffing each confrontation and held on to a neck victory over Skyway Hanover in a time of 1:57, which is the mare’s seasonal best clocking.

“She’s just a gritty mare who not only knows how to win, but likes doing it,” driver Bruce Aldrich, Jr. said of Tracys Song after their victory. “The field closed in on her on the final turn but when she straightened for home we opened up some daylight and needed every bit of it to hold off Skyway Hanover. I kept urging her and she kept digging in.”

Now Tracy’s Song’s eight wins are just one behind season’s leader Artstanding for most victories by a harness horse in North America this year.

Trained by Bob Lounsbury for owner Nancy Fugure, Tracys Song paid $3.60 for win.

Earlier this year at the Mighty M, Tracys Song was the stalwart in the Name Your Price Claiming Series, winning each of her divisions as well as the series finale. However, in those contests she started out racing with a $4,000 tag and finished the four-week series as a $6,000 claimer.

On March 11, Tracey’s Song raced with an $8,000 claiming tag.