Meadowlands: Stay Hungry swoops the field to capture Cane Pace

Stay Hungry was last turning for home but first at the wire, sweeping by the field with a huge stretch kick to win Saturday afternoon's $281,000 Cane Pace, the first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown, in 1:47 3/5 on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands.

I'm A Big Deal (Scott Zeron), a 73-1 shot, blasted to the front and led through a 25 3/5 opening quarter and a 53 3/5 half. Everybody in behind him seemed to be waiting on cover in the backstretch, with Hayden Hanover (Andy Miller) trying to flush Nutcracker Sweet (Brian Sears) from third, stacking up American History (Yannick Gingras), Meadowlands Pace winner Courtly Choice (David Miller), and Stay Hungry (Doug McNair), who relented from last and went back to the inside on the final turn.

Nutcracker Sweet finally pulled on the final bend, and he was next to I'm A Big Deal at the 1:20 2/5 three-quarters before forging his way into the lead turning for home. The closers were finding their best stride, though, and Stay Hungry had the most pace, as he angled out four-wide, inside of a drifting out Courtly Choice, and came on for the victory by a length and a half. Grand Teton (Andrew McCarthy), a 62-1 shot, saved ground and also found space in the lane to get up for second, and Babes Dig Me (Brett Miller), a 43-1 offering, rounded out the trifecta. Courtly Choice had to settle for fourth this time, and American History was fifth. Trainer Tony Alagna sent out the winner, the third-place finisher, and the fifth-place horse.

"I wanted to follow Dave around, and we weren't really in a good spot at the half. The fractions were real wicked, and he performed well," said McNair. "He's got high, high speed, so if you can put him in the right spot and there's lots of fractions, he's going to pace home and be real close."

A Somebeachsomewhere colt, Stay Hungry is trained by Alagna for owners Brad Grant and Irwin Samelman. This was Stay Hungry's ninth career victory, and he has now earned $904,892. A 7-2 offering, Stay Hungry returned $9.40 to win.

I’m not sure yet whether we’ll go to the Little Brown Jug,” said Grant. “It’s a big race in our business. My dad won it with Bettor’s Delight. Of course I’d like to win it.