Harness: Perfect Sting to make 2021 debut in Big M qualifier

Dan Patch Award winning male pacer Perfect Sting will make his first appearance of 2021 when he qualifies Saturday at The Meadowlands. His trainer, Joe Holloway, will accompany the colt on the journey but will not be joining him for any trips on the racetrack for several weeks after recently suffering a broken shoulder in an accident.

Holloway, who guided Perfect Sting through a 10-for-10 campaign last year at age 2, was injured while jogging a horse at Gaitway Farm in central New Jersey. Holloway was unseated when an adjacent horse got frightened and turned into him.

"It's tough to believe; I'm so agile and I landed on my shoulder and got hurt," Holloway said with a laugh Friday morning while watching Perfect Sting jog. "You'd think I'd have reflexes like a cat."

The 64-year-old added, "That comes with being older. I just didn't land that good. That's just the way it is."

Holloway visited with his doctor on Thursday and determined he could put off any surgery until the winter and hopes to be sitting behind Perfect Sting again in two-to-three weeks.

"When I was young, you thought good horses came along all the time," Holloway said. "Well, they don't really. It's been a long time, so I don't want to miss much of this season, if any, with this colt.

"So, as long as I can put up with it and things look like they're healing, like they do right now, I'm going to delay the surgery. I don't want to do any permanent damage to myself, but I'll put up with a little bit of pain and aggravation to be able to get back and be able to sit behind him."

Holloway, who was elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2018, is looking forward to watching Perfect Sting take his first steps toward his 3-year-old season. Holloway plans to qualify the colt twice and is anticipating the colt making his first start on May 16 in the second leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

"He's doing real good," Holloway said. "I think he's a little bit more mature mentally. I'm really looking forward to qualifying tomorrow and seeing how he goes. But I expect him to do well."

Last year, Perfect Sting's victories included the Breeders Crown, divisions of the Bluegrass and International Stallion stakes, and the Kentucky Sire Stakes championship. The homebred son of Always B Miki-Shebestingin earned $534,300 for owners Brittany Farms and Val D'Or Farms.

Perfect Sting became the only 2-year-old male pacer to win a Breeders Crown as part of an undefeated season. He joined Niatross (1979), Jate Lobell (1986), Somebeachsomewhere (2007) and He's Watching (2013) as undefeated Dan Patch Award-winning 2-year-old male pacers since 1973.

The colt will not be the only Dan Patch Award winner in action Saturday morning at The Meadowlands. Six-year-old female trotter Manchego, a two-time Dan Patch honoree and three-time Breeders Crown champion, is among the horses participating in the day's 16 qualifiers, which begin at 9 a.m. (EDT).

Among others expected to circle the Big M's mile oval are 3-year-old male pacers Always A Miki, Exploit, Southwind Gendry, and Summa Cum Laude; 3-year-old male trotters In Range, Maverick, and Zenith Stride; 3-year-old female pacers Blue Diamond Eyes, Continualou, JK Alwaysbalady, Notorious Pink, and Scarlett Hanover; older female trotters Hypnotic AM, Next Level Stuff, and Sorella; and older male trotter Crystal Fashion.

-edited release (USTA)