by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — The post position draw will be held Thursday for the first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown, the $300,000 Cane Pace for 3-year-old pacers, to be held Labor Day afternoon at Freehold Raceway in central New Jersey.

A single elimination race was held August 28 (won by I’m Gorgeous), but One More Laugh got one more week off, exercising a bye gained as one of the year’s top money-winners to enter the race. The son of McArdle-Fancy Creek Funny has won four of 10 races this season, including the $1 million Meadowlands Pace and $294,965 Art Rooney Pace. He last raced August 22, finishing second to Rock N Roll Heaven in the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine at Harrah’s Chester. One More Laugh has earned $924,614 this year, which ranks as the third most for any harness racing horse this season.

Lisa photo

Meadowlands Pace champion One More Laugh will tackle a field of eight in the Cane Pace on Labor Day.

The gelding has won 13 of 22 starts and earned $1.51 million in his career while finishing worse than second only three times. He is trained by Ray Schnittker, who owns the horse with Mathias Meinzinger and Jerry Silva.

Schnittker is optimistic about the Cane, but knows Thursday’s draw will be key.

“I think the draw is real important and he should be in good shape, hopefully be alright,” Schnittker said.

The trainer did nothing special with One More Laugh on his week off.

“I just trained him pretty good and will train him a bit (Thursday). He’s probably tight enough; he’s been going all year.”

Like many horses in the Schnittker Stable, One More Laugh takes the occasional dip in a pond on Schnittker’s Middletown, New York farm.

“He swims, but I think he likes being at the track more than anything,” Schnittker said. “He just kind of hangs out and has a good time.”

One More Laugh has won a major race at every size track this year and Schnittker is not concerned about going around twice at the Freehold half-mile oval.

“He’s real good on a half; I think the whole key to the race is whether speed holds up and how he draws,” Schnittker said. “He’s won from everywhere; he’s just a very good horse.”

One More Laugh is eligible to the next two legs of the Pacing Triple Crown — the Little Brown Jug, to be held September 23 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Ohio, and the Messenger, to be held on November 6 at Yonkers Raceway.

“I think he’s got as good a chance as anyone,” said Schnittker, who added the horse is none the worse for wear as the season heads to fall and has held his weight well. “We’ve had no problem with that. He’s in good shape; doesn’t even look like he’s raced.”