Jenna's Beach Boy - 2CP
bay colt, by Beach Towel
The Breeders Crown freshman pacing colt division is solid testimony to the egalitarian nature of harness racing. The 1994 edition was a wide-open affair, offering the richest two-year-old purse north of the border, and the hopefuls came from every corner of the continent to vie for a piece of the pie.
An even twenty colts were willing to contest the race since the division had shown no definite leader. Two eliminations were necessary to assemble ten finalists. A mild upset occurred in the first when Peter Pan Stable's Only Pan, steered by leading OJC reinsman Doug Brown, minded his recently acquired manners and stole the race on the front end. The favorite, Woodrow Wilson winner Dontgetinmyway, was roughed up throughout the mile and barely squeaked Into the final with a fifth place finish.
In the other qualifier, a son of 1990 Crown champion Beach Towel bearing the moniker Jenna's Beach Boy, made light work of the opposition, sailing to the wire in a new track record of 1 :52.4. Jenna's Beach Boy suffered from allergies, remarked trainer Joe Holloway, and the Crown was his first start in about a month. Driver Bill Fahy mused that the deep-chested colt might be even better the following week in the final now that he had a nice tightener in him.
Rover Hanover had just two wins from 13 starts, but one was the $531,600 Metro Stakes at 51-1, so his owners were hoping that lightning would strike twice. A fourth-place finish in his elim. assured them at least a chance.
Seven of the 10 colts that advanced to the final were purchased at public auction. Only one of the seven cost more than $50,000, that being Stand Alone, offspring of 1989 Breeders Crown champion Matt's Scooter, who was hammered down for $100,000. Another Breeders Crown champion, Dragon's Lair, was represented by Powerful Structure, who cost his owners a mere $7,000.
On the opposite side of the spectrum were three homebreds, whose owners had an inestimable amount of time and money invested in them. Lee and Linda Devisser owned and raced a fast but temperamental mare named Five O'Clock Cindy. They retained her to breed, but her threatening attitude toward even her own foal (named Jenna's Beach Boy after their granddaughter Jenna) caused "Jenna" to be raised by a benign Belgian nursemare rather than his dam.
Runner-up to Jenna's Beach Boy was George Segal and Val D'Or Farm's Stand Alone. The costly colt had reeled off seven straight stake victories before being bested by Jenna's Beach Boy in their Crown elimination, but still maintained a slight edge on divisional honors for pure consistency.
The draw was not kind to the DeVissers, awarding their colt post eight. Then a pre-race mishap in the stall nearly caused Jenna's Beach Boy to be scratched, but after several jog miles he seemed to shrug off the hock bruise.
Stand Alone's seven wins were irresistible to the bettors, and the presence of driving whiz Steve Condren only furthered their cause. Only Stand Alone, Jenna's Beach Boy and No Standing Around were accorded any kind of chance in the eyes of the public, as the other seven aspirants all went off at double-digit odds.
The first happening of any importance in the race was that Rover Hanover, from the rail, made a break before the gate wings folded. This prompted an initial hesitation among the inside horses, which allowed Fahy and Jenna's Beach Boy to shoot from the outside and secure a spot behind the leader, Only Pan. The field hurled themselves through a first quarter in :26.3.
Fahy was not content behind Only Pan, and before the half-mile marker, Jenna's Beach Boy was at the forefront in the mile. Counting on the powerful colt's stamina, Fahy asked him to sprint away through the third quarter panel, creating a bit of a buffer on the rest of the competition. Jenna's Beach Boy widened his margin from two lengths to four, parading down the middle of the track as if he had no equal. Which, on this night at least. he did not. "Jenna' lowered his own track record by a full second to 1 :51.4, stamping himself as head of his class.
Favored Stand Alone stayed as close as possible to finish second, while Dontgetinmyway, under a typical heads-up drive by John Campbell, closed evenly for third. Those in attendance or watching via television knew they had witnessed something special, a harbinger for the three-year-old battles, a promise of brilliance in the year ahead. Jenna's Beach Boy was an easy choice for year-end honors, and became the fourth pacing progeny of a Breeders Crown champion to also capture a Crown. Beach Towel yearlings were precious that fall at the yearling sales, in no small part because of his eye-catching performance.
Fate seemed to catch up to this star crossed crop of colts in a dramatic way. Stand Alone did not live another month after a virulent illness caused him to founder severely. No Standing Around was purchased tor $175,000 in a January sale by the DeVissers, as a complement to Jenna's Beach Boy. He earned his purchase price back in three weeks, but in June, both Devisser-owned colts were scratched immediately prior to the first $1 million contest of the season. Jenna's Beach Boy suffered a hairline fracture that would put him out of commission for more than two months and No Standing Around was gripped with a respiratory illness, developed pneumonia and a fever that caused him to founder, and had to be euthanized.
Owners
L & L Devisser Partnership
Trainer | Driver
Joe Holloway | Bill Fahy
Extras
| Chart |
