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 they have 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).“

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

“’Tracy’ was classified 'C2' and has drawn Post Position 4 in the fourth race, which is strictly for fillies and mares,” explained Lounsbury. “The morning line rates her at 5-1, and since we’ve never raced her on a five-eighths (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 only be the second time that Bruce Aldrich Jr. won’t be handling 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 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 know the track there at Tioga, so we’ll hope for the best on Saturday,” Lounsbury added.

(Monticello)