Dover: Beach Glass reigns supreme in Progress Pace

Beach Glass closed out the Grand Circuit season for 3-year-olds with a 1:48 4/5 win in the $250,000 Progress Pace final for colts and geldings on Wednesday night at Bally's Dover Casino Resort.

Starting from post seven, Beach Glass fired out for Yannick Gingras and hooked up in an early duel with Pebble Beach (Todd McCarthy), who also sped away from post three. Pebble Beach used his inside position to force Beach Glass to back off into the pocket, but paid a 25 1/5 opening quarter price to do so.

Pebble Beach maintained command through quick fractions of 52 4/5 and 1:20 3/5, but Beach Glass was right on McCarthy's helmet the entire time. After waiting for the opportune moment to strike, Gingras fed Beach Glass clear racetrack on the final turn, and Beach Glass sailed by Pebble Beach and on to a two length victory. Captain Cowboy (Corey Callahan) rallied for second, followed by Fourever Boy (Dexter Dunn), Mad Max Hanover (Tim Tetrick), and a fading Pebble Beach, who had to settle for fifth in his last career start.

"I was happy. Obviously we would've liked to have made front, as it turns out it was good. I thought he handled that second quarter in 27 and a piece very well. He was a little grabby and aggressive, but compared to what he was a couple of months ago, he probably would have been up over the top of the bike, or he would've had to move him. He's learning and he's catching on," said trainer Brent MacGrath after the victory. "What I was most impressed with was after three-quarters when he moved him out, he had some pace. He wanted to go on. He came out of the seven-hole in 25 1/5, which is a big quarter on any five-eighths mile track. I was extremely happy.

"He looks after himself very well. We don't train him tough at all. He did have the setback where we had the couple of throat surgeries done on him, and that gave him a little break. He actually developed up and grew with those five or six weeks that he had off. It wasn't hard, just keep him out of trouble and get him to the track on time. He'll do the rest."

A colt from the final crop of Somebeachsomewhere, Beach Glass is owned by breeder Schooner II Stable. This was his 12th win from 18 career starts, he has now earned $1,110,544, and he paid $4.60 to win as the second choice.

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

MacGrath added after the race that Beach Glass will be back on the track for a 4-year-old campaign and that he's looking forward to racing him on smaller ovals.

"We're coming back next year, and we're going to plan to be at all the dances. He likes the half-mile track, and I want to race him some on the half," remarked MacGrath. "He trained in Nova Scotia in Truro, which is a good half. He trained down as a 2-year-old on that, and we qualified him actually in Truro. I'm excited about that."