If you want to talk about a bargain, just check out Tracys Song.
Tracys Song, a $4,000 purchase early this year, who, with a victory again on March 18, now has run her unbeaten streak to nine. She is currently the winningest horse in North America.
Win No. 9 --- and all her wins for that matter --- came at Monticello Raceway. All of the wins during the mare's streak have come under the guidance of driver Bruce Aldrich Jr. However, it was trainer Bob Lounsbury who decided that Tracys Song would be a worthwhile purchase.
“She has been a classy, hard-hitting mare who had won over $300,000 when she was younger,” Lounsbury said. “Even last year she earned over $20,000 and won in 1:55 (actually 1:55.2) at Dover Downs. And that she started 41 times in the past two years means she must be at least race-horse sound, so I thought she’d probably be a decent purchase.”
Lounsbury suggested to his 'patron,' Nancy Fugere, that Tracys Song is worth taking a chance on, especially since there isn’t a whole lot of money involved in her purchase.
So Fugere, who has had previous success with claimers that were handled by Lounsbury, took his advice and bought Tracys Song from Kyle DiBenedetto for ‘four large.'
Once under his tutelage, Lounsbury discovered that Tracys Song didn’t like the burr headpole that she was previously rigged with --- so he took it off, and at a very inappropriate time and place.
“Actually, that happened the first time Bruce (Aldrich Jr.) drove her,” Lounsbury explained. “In the post parade during her first start for us, she (Tracys Song) was acting up badly, fighting the burr headpole, so Bruce brought her back to the paddock and we took it off. Admittedly, she raced a bit sideways that day, but Bruce kept her fairly straight and she went on to win in 2:01.
“The next time we started her, we used a line burr in place of the burr headpole and took some other rigging off her, too. Since that day she’s been nothing but a terror in her class.”
Tracys Song romped her way through the 'Mighty M’s Name Your Price Claiming Series, which made the pacers available for prices from $4,000 to $6,000, of course with the higher price tags came outside post position draws.
Still, racing from the outside post positions, Aldrich had always sped Tracys Song to the lead --- her recent MO --- and she had not lost a race in the series. She has been racing with a $9,000 price tag ($7,500 base, plus mare’s allowance) since the series ended. She was in for that amount again when she won on March 18.
Pondering her next move, Lounsbury is still undecided as to where (what class) he’ll start Tracys Song next week.
“Currently, Monticello’s top claiming price for mares is $7,500 and I’d hate to have to race her against the boys,” Lounsbury said. “Nancy (Fugere, the mare's owner) and I will talk it over and make a decision.
“I’d like to keep here her at Monticello and not have to race her out of town, so we have a bit of a dilemma --- not a serious one, mind you, but we’d like to give her a chance to keep her winning streak intact.”
(Monticello)