Bruce Aldrich Jr. and Bob Lounsbury are at it again. Two years ago at Monticello Raceway, the driver/trainer combination had 18 consecutive victories with the claiming pacer Tracys Song. The duo is currently running another win streak with Burlesque, who is also a claiming pacing mare.
On Monday, September 22, Aldrich guided Burlesque to an easy 1:57.3 victory over Rustys Flying (driven by Jim Marohn Jr.) which was the mare’s seventh win in a row.
Seven is a long way from 18, but as Aldrich said, referring to the mare’s winning journey, “we’ll take it one step at a time, although, honestly, it’ll be nearly impossible to win that many in a row.”
Burlesque showed shades of brilliance earlier in her career, but she could never get it all together. She amassed nearly $100,000 in purse money at two and three, but wins as came sparingly.
“Phil (Schultz) claimed Burlesque for $12,500 in Canada earlier this year, but he was not happy about with her after he claimed her,” Lounsbury said. “She didn’t want to race, so, finally, Schultz sent her to his other trainer, Mike Watson, and told him to put her in at Monticello Raceway for a $4,000 claiming tag.”
Watson also trained Diamond Tiara for Schultz, but he stables his horses in Wind Gap, Pa., which is 90 miles from Monticello Raceway.
“With shipping bills around $200 every time she raced at Monticello, it didn’t pay Phil to have Watson keep trucking her here since she wasn’t racing very well,” Lounsbury explained. “I’ve trained horses for Phil before, so he sent her to me to stop the shipping costs.
“She didn’t race well for me, either, at first. I know she was sour because she’d try to run off the track when we jogged her, so we began feeding her ‘Dr. Green’ (turning her out in a pasture) a few days a week and that she seemed to sweeten (her) up.”
Lounsbury won his first race with Burlesque on June 10 when Aldrich sat a two-hole trip with the four-year-old daughter of Mach Three and then rallied her to a 1:56.4 victory. Her only other triumph prior to that was a 1:53.3 mile on February 24 for Jonathan Drury while racing for a $12,500 tag at Woodbine Racetrack.
However, after Schultz claimed her, Burlesque refused to race at all, so he sent her to Mike Watson and he told him to put her in a $4,000 (claimer) at Monticello Raceway.
“She (Burlesque) only picked up a few small cheques in her first three starts for Mike, so he sent her here to me so there would be no more shipping costs,” Lounsbury explained.
Once at the ‘Mighty M’ and under the tutelage of Lounsbury, Burlesque won her first race on June 10, and since then she has won nine more times for the Lounsbury-Aldrich combination, every time racing for a tag, which was continually magnified by her being a mare and a four-year-old.
“She’s not a mean mare, but she’s temperamental, and being here where she can get away [from] the race track a few days a week helps to sweeten her up,” Lounsbury added. “She has a mind of her own, but Bruce gets along real well with her.”
(Monticello)