Cam’s Fool, American Ideal capture Cane Pace elims

The stage is set for a quick Cane Pace final on Monday.Cam’s Fool and American Ideal captured their respective $57,600 divisions of eliminations for the Cane final Saturday, dipping under 1:53.0 on Freehold Raceway’s half-mile track. The first four finishers from the two divisions advanced to the Labor Day Monday $230,800 final.

The Cane Pace is the first leg of Pacing’s Triple Crown.

Cam’s Fool was first up on Saturday and Brian Sears drove him to an upset win in 1:52.3 over 1-5 favorite Jo Pa’s Shark (George Brennan).

Sears hooked up in a speed battle for the lead with Brennan and Jo Pa’s Shark. The favorite led out of the gate, but the relentless Cam’s Fool would eventually get around him and draw away to a three-quarter length victory.

Jo Pa’s Shark still held on to finish second and assure himself of a trip to Monday’s final.

Robin of Locksley (Eric Ledford) closed with a rush to finish third and Revolutionary Foe (Cat Manzi) grabbed the fourth and final qualifying spot.

This was the fourth win in 16 starts in 2005 for Cam’s Fool.

In the second division, George Brennan steered American Ideal to a wire-to-wire 1:52.2 victory. The son of Western Ideal led the field through the quarter pole in 27.2, the half in 56.1 and three-quarters in 1:24.3 before a last quarter in 28.9 completed the victory. He finished one and one-quarter lengths up on Royal Flush Shark (Eric Ledford). The show horse was Marced Card (Brian Sears). Village Jolt (Ron Pierce) survived an early break to finish fourth and round out the field for the final. Village Jolt was the juvenile pacing champion last year and has a 1:51.2 mile to his credit this year.

American Ideal has won eight of his 15 starts this year.

The winner of Monday’s Cane Pace will be the only 3-year-old colt who could win the Triple Crown, a feat accomplished eight times (the last time 1997 by Western Dreamer). The jewels of the Triple Crown are the Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio, Sept. 22, and the Messenger Stakes at Harrington Raceway, Delaware, Oct. 17.

The Cane Pace winner will etch his named on the trophy alongside such previous champions as Bret Hanover (1965), Albatross (1971), Niatross (1980) and Cam Fella (1982).

It will be a big stakes day for Freehold on Monday with the $150,000 Battle of Freehold open pace for 2-year-olds and the $45,000 second leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes also on the card.

On Friday, Freehold Raceway witnessed a world-record performance by Armbro Copenhagen, who equaled the world record for 3-year-old trotting geldings. The son of Malabar Man posted a 1:56.0 in winning the first race on the card with David Miller in the sulky.

Armbro Copenhagen matched the 1:56.0 world record of Arnold Plumsted set in 1997 at Freehold.