from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — A slimmed down Joe Holloway has a bulging bankroll after winning the $500,000 SBOA/ New Jersey Classic with Modern Art last Saturday night at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Thanks to the Adkins diet, trainer Holloway has dropped nearly 50 pounds. His health, his golf game and his outlook on life have all improved.

“My weight and the harness racing business are both a lot like the stock market — up and down,” quipped Holloway from his barn at Showplace Farms in Englishtown, New Jersey. “Right now, things are going great with Modern Art. To be headed in the stretch (by Dr No) like he was and fight back showed he has the desire. He’s the type of horse that never seems to have a bad day. He’s a fighter.”

The next test for the three-year-old colt, who is on the road to the $1 million Meadowlands Pace on July 17, are the eliminations for the Pepsi North America Cup on June 12 at Woodbine which will determine the finalists for the C$1.5 million North America Cup Final on June 19.

Modern Art is undefeated in three starts this year. His New Jersey Classic victory in 1:50² equaled his lifetime record and pushed his total earnings to $994,041. In 16 career starts, the son of Artsplace has nine wins and six seconds. His only off the board finish was a fourth in the Governor’s Cup Final last fall on a sloppy track at Mohawk.

A $155,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase, Modern Art is owned by Marty Granoff’s Val D’Or Farms of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey; Milton and Martha Frank of Fair Lawn, New Jersey; and Ted Gewertz of New York City.

Holloway, 48, is best known for campaigning world champion Jenna’s Beach Boy, still the fastest Standardbred in a race after capturing the Driscoll Final (now WR Haughton) at the Meadowlands in 1:47³ in June of 1996.

“People always ask me about comparing Modern Art to Jenna,” said Holloway. “I believe Modern Art actually has more natural talent.”

One negative about Modern Art has been his tendency to occasionally lose his rhythm, gait-wise. He was a touch rough before the finish in his first two starts of the year and broke stride when slowing up after those races.

“Modern Art has gotten a little ‘steppy’ at times this year,” said Holloway. “We’ve had several vets go over him from head to toe and can’t find a single thing wrong with him. I think it’s the lift on the race bike that might be causing the problem. I’ve been using the new Evolution bike, which has a lot of lift. We’ve tried adjusting where the shaft carriers are positioned, but it hasn’t really made any difference. I’m sending both the new bike and his old Tel-Star sulky, which he raced in last year, up to Woodbine with him. If he races good in the Tel-Star in the North America Cup elimination, we’ll probably stick with that. The only time he was worse than second was in the Governor’s Cup Final last year at Mohawk, and we were forced to change the race bike just before the post parade. We grabbed a lift bike to use that night, too. Ironically, Jenna’s Beach Boy couldn’t handle a bike with any lift to it either.”

Holloway is also upbeat about his two-year-olds prospects who will start baby racing at the Meadowlands on Saturday morning.

“You never know about two-year-olds until you start racing, but I’ve got four really nice pacing fillies,” said Holloway. “With four real good ones to start with, we should be all right.”

Herbal treatment could solve Sand Speed’s woes

A treatment more than 2,000 years old may be the answer to the health woes of Sand Speed, who makes her next start in a $25,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes division on Friday night at the Meadowlands.

The three-year-old pacing filly, who has a win and a second in three starts this year, is receiving an herbal treatment.

“She has a liver problem, and we’ve been trying to treat it,” said Kevin Welty, assistant to trainer Gary Cameron II. “She’s a lot faster than what she’s shown so far. If this problem gets cleared up, she’s at least two seconds faster. She’s pretty sound and good-gaited, but not quite as healthy as she should be. We just found out about the problem about a month ago, and we weren’t really sure how to treat it. You have to check their blood work, and it shows when their liver enzymes are elevated. But that can come from a couple of different things. It’s complicated, but you just have to treat it with an herbal liver flush, which flushes the toxins out of the liver and gets them back to normal. It’s made from milk thistle. Hopefully, this works for her. I talked to a vet at the Meadowlands after her last race there. He told me if you use this liver flush, it will bring the level right back down in eight to 10 days.”

Sand Speed took her mark of 1:55¹ on May 20 at Rosecroft and was second in her Meadowlands debut on May 27. She is rated 10-1 in the morning line with Cat Manzi driving in the second of three round two divisions of the New Jersey Sires Stakes.

“Ben Wallace had her as a two-year-old, and we’ve had her for her three starts this year,” said the 24-year-old Welty. “I don’t really know why she only made four starts last year, but she’s a real big horse and wears a long hobble. So, immaturity might’ve been the reason she started late. She acts like she has a ton of speed. When she comes to herself, she’s going to be fast.

“She usually gets a couple of days off after a race, jogs back lightly, and she trained (Wednesday) a mile and a half in about 2:40 with a good sprint at the end of it,” he noted. “Then she gets turned out again. We don’t like to stress them too much, and we want to keep them sound.

“I don’t know how much she’ll improve this week, but she’ll gradually get better,” he added. “She drew inside (post three) again, but she’s in against Glowing Report and a few other good ones. There are high hopes for her. She’s pretty heavily staked.”

Sand Speed is leased by Joann and Joe Thomson of Chesapeake City, Maryland.

“I’ve been with Gary for about five and a half years,” Welty noted. “I started with him right out of high school. My mom and uncle both train. I have a lot of family involved. We have 28 horses stabled here at a 40-acre farm in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with a half-mile track, swimming and an Equi-Ciser.”

Welty also reports that Penn Pronto, the Cameron Stable’s 2003 Hambletonian Finalist (eight), is ready to return for his 2004 campaign.

Cameron’s 17 starters at the Meadowlands this year have accounted for six wins, four seconds and a third.

Around The Meadowlands for June 3, 2004

Trainer Chuck Sylvester has a three-year-old trotting colt who might just live up to his name and breeding and reach this year’s Hambletonian on August 7.

Ever To Excel, a full-brother to Dream Vacation, sold for $300,000 as a yearling.

“He’s never raced and last Saturday was only his second qualifier of the season,” said Sylvester. “He trotted in 1:59², with a :27³ last quarter, and it was a cool and windy morning. John (driver John Campbell) said there was a big difference in him from last week. He’s improving in a hurry, and we’ll try to get him into an overnight race soon.”

Lexington, Kentucky native Bob Stewart is headed to Ontario with his trio of trotting colts: Eilean Donan, Beardmore and Con Man. He has hired veteran horseman Tom Sells to assist him in Canada.

“All three will qualify at Mohawk this week, then make their first starts in the Goodtimes eliminations,” said Stewart. “We had a tornado last week in Lexington and six inches of rain in one day. That set us back a little training-wise, but I think we’ll be all right.”

Trainer Markku Vartianen and the Lindy Racing Stable plan on taking a road less traveled to the $1.2 million Hambletonian with their top prospect, the home-bred Lindy Lane colt Knight’s Tail.

“We’re planning to race him at Rockingham until the eliminations (on July 31),” said Vartianen. “We’re hoping to have a fresh horse for the Hambletonian.”

Trainer Kevin McDermott traveled to Peter Wrenn’s farm in Swartz Creek, Michigan, this week is to oversee Connors elimination winner Southwind Elian, a recent six-figure purchase by Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet.

“He’s a real nice horse,’ said McDermott. “Peter (Wrenn) was real impressed with him in the elimination. Maybe we’re a little handier around the tighter turns at this point than Cash Hall. I’m having fun out here, but Peter is real big into (riding) cutting horses, and there’s no way I’m going to ride one of those things. He’s crazy.”