from Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Freehold, NJ — The first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown kicks off on Monday, September 3, with the $267,500 Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway in central New Jersey. Southwind Lynx, with two million-dollar wins under his belt (The Rooney and Meadowlands Pace), got a bye for having the largest purse earnings, leaving eight others to do battle for seven spots on August 26.

Subsequent legs of the Crown are the Little Brown Jug at the Delaware, Ohio, county fair on September 20 and the Messenger on October 27 at Yonkers Raceway.

Trainer Joe Holloway sent out two horses to vie for a Cane spot and both earned a spot, race winner (in 1:51.3 by three lengths) Always A Virgin and third-place finisher Fresh Deck. Yankee Skyscaper was second. Always A Virgin (11-7-2-1, $363,093, 1:48.4 in ’07) heads to the Cane with seven wins in his last eight starts, the sole loss coming in a late break in the Meadowlands Pace.

Always A Virgin’s debut over a half-mile track caught Holloway a bit off guard. “That was a surprise,” he said. “When we did not go to the Adios (on August 11), I took him to Freehold to train him, that wasn’t in my plans originally. He had messed up in the Meadowlands Pace and I knew he had to be good come Breeders Crown time (November 24 at The Meadowlands), so I took him to Freehold to train him and he was just blazing. I got down to the first quarter in :30, but I thought, ‘Maybe not, maybe I clicked my watch wrong.’ We got to the half in :59, three-quarters in 1:28 and I wound up going a mile in 1:54.2. He was sprinting through the last quarter and I thought this horse is the exception on a half. I thought he’d get around there, but good horses do whatever you ask and he’s actually exceptional on the half, it kind of surprised me.”

The other Holloway trainee, Fresh Deck (19-8-3-5, $411,452, 1:49.4 in ’07), won the New Jersey Classic at The Meadowlands on June 2 in a time of 1:49.4, but then went five more starts without a win before winning a division of the Battle of Brandywine at Chester Downs on August 19 in a time of 1:53.1.

“The 3-year-old year is just a war,” said Holloway, “and I really prepped him for the Berry’s Creek (where he was third by two lengths to Wearable Art) and the Jersey Classic. He started getting a little tired and he bled at Monticello (in the Gold Rush Stakes in July). If he’d been as good at Monticello as he was today, he’d have probably won or certainly been second. We took a little time, got him fresh, he was OK for the Battle of Brandywine, a little bit better today and he just got beat for second. Once you start him up, he’s not the easiest horse to take back. The other horse (Always A Virgin), on the other hand, is extremely easy to do whatever you have to do. He (Fresh Deck) only knows one way of racing, where the other horse, you ask him to go, he goes.”

Holloway admits he’s got Delaware, Ohio, soon and won’t race Always A Virgin between the September 3 Cane and the September 20 Little Brown Jug. He has no concerns the horse will still be sharp after a nearly three-week layoff between the races. “No, it’s 17 days, not that I’ve already had that in my mind or anything,” he laughed. “I don’t know how many hours there are, but this is certainly my best chance (to win the Jug for the first time).”

Trainer and co-owner George Teague will send out Southwind Lynx, who will make his first start back since a miscue in the August 11 Adios Pace at The Meadows. “He threw a shoe in the first turn and that kind of ended all our chances,” said Teague. “He’s kind of tricky anyway; he’s the kind of horse that slips anyway. If he gets a little slippery, he’s tough to handle. He never runs, but he definitely acts like he slips. I’ve put everything on him I could possibly put on him (shoes) as far as grabbing goes, but when he threw a shoe in the first turn, that eliminated our chances.”

Teague could have raced last weekend, but opted to give the horse a week off. “It definitely didn’t hurt us much. We had a choice to go in but I definitely didn’t want to risk it. The option was to race or not race. He got a bye so I decided to leave it alone this week and drop in next week.

Teague has kept Southwind Lynx in training in Delaware, opting not to turn him out. “I’m at Harrington Raceway and I’m not much on turning those kinds of horses out, I just keep jogging them, I don’t turn out much. I don’t want to take a chance (on injury).”

Teague is clear about where he’d like Southwind Lynx to start from in the Cane. “The rail,” he says. “On a half-mile racetrack, that’s the spot everyone would be hoping for. If everything comes out OK, I plan on pointing him to the Jug. He’s got the Jug Preview at Scioto, but if everything goes alright in the Cane, I’ll probably leave that alone and go straight to the Jug.”

Below is the Cane Pace field in alphabetical order, with drivers and trainers listed from each horse’s most recent race.