by Carol Hodes, for the SBOA of New Jersey

Freehold, NJ — Shutter Boy and Muscles Joy each were installed as 3-1 morning line favorites in their respective $30,145 divisions of the New Jersey Futurity for 2-year-old trotters on Wednesday (October 17) at Freehold Raceway.

Shutter Boy, a son of Yankee Glide who has finished first or second in five of nine starts, gets the nod in the colts and geldings division, carded as the seventh race.

Muscles Joy, who is by Muscles Yankee and captured a division of the Bluegrass Stakes, tops the filly division, the ninth race.

Shutter Boy, driven by John Campbell and trained by co-owner George Dennis, had a three-race winning streak in New Jersey Sires Stakes snapped when he finished second by a neck to Better Than Most in the $85,000 final on September 5. The colt has had several weeks off since that outing. He will leave from post six in the field of seven.

Muscles Joy, who has finished in-the-money in five of six starts, posted her first career victory in the $78,600 Bluegrasss on September 25 but would be second best — by more than 10 lengths — to the divisional star Snow White the next week in the International Stallion Stake. Trained and co-owned by Randy Beeckman, Muscles Joy will be piloted by David Miller for the first time.

The New Jersey Futurities are sponsored by the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey. The 3-year-old trotting divisions will be offered on October 25 and the 2-year-old pacing divisions will take place on October 26, all at Freehold.

The stallions represented in the two divisions include Muscles Yankee, Yankee Glide, Self Possessed and Dream Vacation.

The field for the colt division (from the rail out with driver, trainer and morning line odds): Fins, Donald Dancer, Donald Dancer, 8-1; Ocean Front, Jim Pantaleano, Ross Croghan, 7-2; Orient Address, Mark Lancaster, Jim Doherty, 4-1; Appalach Dream, David Miller, Robert Greenwood, 10-1; Helens Colt, Jeff Gregory, Ike Hardiman, 9-2; Shutter Boy, John Campbell, George Dennis, 3-1; and Celebrity Rocky, Pat Berry, Staffan Lind, 12-1.

The field for the filly division (from the rail out with driver, trainer and morning line odds): Winbak Brat, Jim Pantaleano, Linda Toscano; Dreamanda, Pat Berry, Grover Freck, 8-1; Muscles Joy, David Miller, Randy Beeckman, 3-1; Stromble Dream, Wilhelm Paal, Robert Greenwood, 5-1; Katie’s Kiss, Mark Gingrich, Daniel Kimmel, 15-1; Punk Lady, Jeff Gregory, Paul Wojtowicz, 10-1; and Muscle Shirt, John Campbell, Chuck Sylvester, 7-2.