By John Manzi
MONTICELLO — Maybe she liked the change in scenery or perhaps it’s the fresh mountain air, but whatever it is with her 1:56.4 triumph on Aug. 29, JM Dancing Star has now strung together four consecutive victories  since coming to Monticello Raceway from Pompano Park in late July.
Owner-trainer Peter Pellegrino has handed the lines to Bill “Zeke” Parker Jr. in every one of the 8-year-old mare’s four outings here and once again the bearded-wonder delivered with a 1-1/2 length conquest over five others – there were two late scratches – in the Monday pacing feature. Sent off as the prohibitive 3-10 favorite, Parker chose to allow Jimmy Marohn Jr. to cut the fractions with Shania Twain while he staked  her with JM Dancing Star until the third stanza when he moved his mare out to challenge, but Shania Twain  hung tough.
The two raced head-to-head around the final turn, with Shania Twain getting  the advantage. But in the deep stretch, JM Dancing Star danced by the leader and opened up some daylight en route to the mare’s seventh seasonal triumph.
Third place went to The Filly Princess, in rein to Greg Merton.
JM Dancing Star paid just $2.70 for win.
Parker, as usual, didn’t have much to say after his victory other than, “She’s handy and she has a good kick at the end [of the mile].”
It was one of three wins on the card for Zeke, who also scored with his own I’m All Sporty in 1:58.4 and behind Dr. Scott Woogen’s trotter Strength’s Victory in a time of  2:02.3.
A check of the battle for driving supremacy here shows that despite the fact that nemesis Bruce Aldrich Jr. won two races, with his three wins on the Monday, Aug. 29 card Parker still leads Aldrich  by 11 victories, 251 to 240.