bay colt, by Beach Towel

Jenna's Beach Boy, the Lee and Linda DeVisser’s homebred son of 1990 Horse of the Year and Breeders Crown champ Beach Towel, had been lightly raced through 1994, but evolved into a powerhouse in the latter half of the stakes season. His astounding effort in taking his freshman Crown championship made him a shoo-in for divisional honors. Jenna's Beach Boy came back strong in 1995 winning the Miller Memorial, the New Jersey Classic and a division of the Burlington, the traditional prep for the North America Cup. The DeVissers, at the behest of trainer Joe Holloway, had also purchased another sophomore pacer, No Standing Around, over the winter for $175,000. The colt immediately earned back his purchase price and the DeVissers settled in for an exciting year of racing. In late June, on the evening of the North America Cup eliminations, they listened in shock as the announcer at Woodbine announced that first Jenna's Beach Boy and then No Standing Around would be scratched from the race minutes before post time.

An old and minor injury that could be troublesome had flared up on "Jenna". After an unsatisfactory warm up, Holloway bit the bullet and scratched him rather than exacerbate the injury. Hard on the heels of that decision came another very tough call -- the groom of No Standing Around reported the colt was streaming mucous from the nose, and Holloway was immediately forced to scratched him as well. The news got worse. No Standing Around became so sick that he was humanely destroyed. “Jenna” would miss not just the North America Cup but also the only other $1 million race for that division, the Meadowlands Pace.

They bided their time for the return of Jenna’s Beach Boy, and, with careful rest and training, he came back strong in the fall. Though ineligible to the Little Brown Jug, Jenna's Beach Boy spun a fabulous 1:52.1 mile on Jug day, and came into the Crown with the buzz surrounding a divisional hopeful and dominant horse.

An enforced vacation in the middle of the season was just what the doctor ordered for Jenna’s Beach Boy. He put an exclamation point on his return to the races with a 1:49.4 effort at Lexington's Red Mile, becoming the fastest racing three-year-old of all time.

Nick's Fantasy, the Little Brown Jug winner, became the first three-year-old pacer to supplement to the Breeders Crown, for the sum of $45,000. Trainer Caroline Lyon and even his optimistic owners thought he may not be quite as sharp as he was in Delaware, Ohio, but deserved the chance to go in the Crown.

That left Wellwood Stable’s Village Connection and Paul MacDonell with upset credentials. But the wide open space of Woodbine's seven-eighths mile track was perfectly suited to Jenna's style of racing.

Trainer | Driver

Joe Holloway | Bill Fahy

Bill Fahy let Jenna's Beach Boy's enormous stride carry him through an authoritative first quarter timed in :26. He then seemed to taunt the other 10 colts with a :29.4 breather, as if to say, “catch me if you can”. Stand Forever, driven by Jack Moiseyev, was pacing all he could just to maintain second place. Nick's Fantasy, outbrushed by Jenna from the start, sought a hole but found none, and was given no respite throughout the remainder of the mile. Despite all the help driver John Campbell could give him, he was not the same horse who easily won the Little Brown Jug. As Jenna rounded the final turn, spectators dismissed the notion of another contestant even getting close to him, and images of Beach Towel played through the minds of those who watched that great horse assume the Crown.

Village Connection paced well down the lane for second, but there would be no upset from Paul MacDonell tonight. Tim Rooney’s Lisryan, driven to every advantage by top reinsman Steve Condren, picked up third.

The moment belonged to Lee and Linda DeVisser as tragedy gave way to triumph.

Joe Holloway became the second trainer to condition book-end Crown winners. Only two pacers, Jenna’s Beach Boy and Camtastic, have recorded two and three-year-old Crown wins. On the strength of his season coupled with his Crown title, made “Jenna” a landslide winner of divisional and Pacer of the Year honors.