EAST
RUTHERFORD, N.J. --- August 4, 2018 – Stay Hungry, driven by Doug McNair,
charged down the stretch to win the 64th edition of $281,000 Cane
Pace by 1 1-2 lengths over 60-1 longshot Grand Teton in stakes record-tying
fashion of 1:47 3/5 to take the first leg of Pacing’s Triple Crown for
3-year-olds, contested as the seventh race on Saturday afternoon at the
Meadowlands.
Trained by Tony Alagna, Stay Hungry, who finished third to Courtly Choice in the Meadowlands Pace, overtook Grand Teton for his third win of the season, ninth of his career and setting a new stakes record and career mark.
Stay Hungry tied the stakes record set by Dealt A Winner, driven by David Miller and trained by Mark Silva, in 2015.
The O’Brien Award-winner Stay Hungry rewarded his backers by paying $9.40, $5.00 and $3.40. Grand Teton paid $40.20 and $15.60 while Babes Dig Me, with Brett Miller in the sulky, finished third, paying $9.40.
“He has high, high speed. So if put you him in the right spot and there’s lots of fractions he’s gonna pay something and be real close,” said McNair.
This was McNair’s first career Cane Pace win for McNair and the second for Alagna, who won in 2013 with Captaintreacherous.
Stay Hungry races for the ownbership of Bradley Grant of Milton,
Ontario and Irwin Samelman of Las Vegas, NV.
Subsequent legs of the Triple Crown include Messenger Stakes at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York on Sept. 1 and The Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fair in Delaware, Ohio on Sept. 20.
