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Tuesday, May 09, 1995 Page: 1B
Schwarzenegger in a horse suit invades Pocono Downs
Less than 24 hours before “Jurassic Park” made its debut on network
television, a monster was seen at Pocono DownsBut this one is real.
He has a heartbeat. He breathes. He’s usually in a bad mood, especially
when he sets foot on a racetrack.
And he goes fast.
Very fast.
Faster than anything seen at Pocono Downs in the track’s 30-year history.
The beast is a 3-year-old pacer named Jenna’s Beach Boy.
Saturday night, Jenna showed why he’s the most heralded star in harness
racing, by turning the $41,351 Miller Memorial elimination into a walkover.
Jenna’s Beach Boy gobbled up the track record faster than a Tyrannosaurus
Rex could digest a tourist: 1:51 3/5 seconds.
His clocking for the one-mile distance was a full second faster than the
previous mark of 1:52 3/5, set by Shipps Commander in 1993.
The most amazing part was the ease Jenna displayed. He led from the outset,
posting fractions of :27, :56 3/5 and 1:23 2/5.
Jenna’s Beach Boy paced the third quarter in a remarkable :26 4/5.
That’s faster than Superman can fly.
Jenna crossed the finish line six lengths ahead of nine leg-weary rivals.
“He went a little bit faster than I wanted him to, but he was sensational,”
said driver Bill Fahy, who must have felt like a passenger in an Indy car.
“The other horse (stablemate No Standing Around) got close to him on the far
turn, and Jenna’s Beach Boy got head strong.”
Then, came the scary part of Fahy’s evaluation of Jenna’s performance.
“He could have gone faster. The thing I like best about him is that he goes
fast and he keeps going.”
As remarkable as it may seem, Saturday was just another night at the office
for Jenna’s Beach Boy, who returns to Pocono Downs this Saturday for the
$180,000 Miller Memorial final.
Many harness racing experts believe Jenna has the potential to become the
fastest pacer ever.
Jenna’s Beach Boy, a son of Beach Towel, was last year’s 2-year-old pacing
champion, taking a mark of 1:51 4/5.
Before coming to Pocono Downs, Jenna paced in 1:50 4/5 (and lost) at The
Meadowlands.
Assistant trainer Jeff Smith said Saturday’s victory was the sharpest race
of Jenna’s young career.
“He was very good,” said Smith, 34. “He warmed up the best ever, and he
looked awesome.”
Smith said Jenna’s Beach Boy seemed to enjoy the cool, fresh Pocono air.
“He’s so big that he has to work out the stiffness before a race. He has
some allergies, and I think the mountain air helped him.”
Saturday’s race was only the third start of the year for Jenna’s Beach Boy,
who has a demanding 1995 schedule.
It includes the Jersey Classic, North America Cup and The Meadowlands Pace.
Unfortunately it doesn’t include harness racing’s showcase event, the
Little Brown Jug, because he wasn’t nominated.
Why?
“It was just an oversight,” Smith said, not mentioning who was responsible
for it. “He was such a big, bulky colt, apparently no one figured he could
handle a half-mile track.”
The Jug is contested on a half-mile oval in Delaware, Ohio.
Even so, Jenna’s Beach Boy appears to have a stranglehold on the 3-year-old
pacing division if he stays fresh.
Jenna is based at White Birch Farm in Allentown, N.J., and spends a lot of
time in the field, according to Smith.
“He doesn’t enjoy training,” Smith said. “So we try and take it easy on
him.
“The only time he likes it is when he trains with other horses, and we try
to avoid that.
“We don’t have any more horses for him to beat up on.”
So now, Jenna’s Beach Boy has to save his anger for the racetrack, much to
the dismay of his rivals.
Pocono-based trainer Steve Salerno, after watching Jenna do his thing
Saturday, summed it up best.
“This isn’t a horse, he’s a monster. He’s Arnold Schwarzenegger in a horse
suit.”
Van Rose is a Times Leader sports writer. His column appears on Tuesday.