Vintage Master drew first blood in this year’s Triple Crown for pacers thanks to an authoritative score in the 55th edition of the Cane Pace

at Freehold Raceway on Monday afternoon.

Dan Dube mapped out the winning trip for the Jimmy Takter-trained three-year-old son of Western Ideal-Arts Vintage, who halted the teletimer in a stakes record clocking of 1:50.4. It erased the former stakes mark of 1:51.1 which was held jointly by Always A Virgin (2007) and Art Official (2008).

The clocking tied the track record of 1:50.4 which was originally set by Art Official in last year’s Cane Pace elimination.

Vintage Master left quickly from the rail and released Arctic Warrior to the top before looping right back to the engine and laying down an opening panel clocked in :26.4. He never looked back from that point on throwing down remaining fractions of :55.4 and 1:23.2 en route to the 1:50.4 decision. Clear Vision was more than five lengths back in second, with Arctic Warrior rounding out the top three.

The victory was the third of the season for the colt, who owns a 3-7-2 record from 15 trips postward in this year’s campaign. He went without a victory in 12 starts as a freshman, but the homebred still managed to bank more than $98,000.

His Cane Pace triumph lifted his 2009 earnings to $1,039,306. The homebred has stashed away more than $1.1 million to date for the partnership of Brittany Farms of Versailles, KY and Brian P. Monieson Revtrust of Northbrook, IL.

The matinee program also featured a pair of divisions of the Shady Daisy Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies.

The opening split went to Showherthemoney, who had no problem grabbing the lion’s share of the $73,300 purse for driver Jim Morrill, Jr. and trainer Tracy Brainard. The daughter of Cams Card Shark-Stienams Place made a quarter-pole move to the lead after Perfectionist threw down a :26.4 opener. Showherthemoney chopped out middle splits of :55.2 and 1:24.1 before storming home to stop the clock in a stakes and track record clocking of 1:52.4. Perfectionist was second and Thats The Plan finished third.

The performance shaved a fifth-of-a-second off the former mark held jointly by Xhilaration (2006) and Southwind Tempo (2007).

Bulletproof Enterprises of Boca Raton, FL owns the six-time winner, who has put together a 5-2-2 record in 14 starts this season. The filly has banked $228,781 to date.

It was all Dingle Bay from start to finish in the second division. Yannick Gingras rushed to immediate command with the daughter of Mcardle-Nantucket Beach, who sliced out panels of :27.3, :57.3 and 1:26.2 before sprinting home to win in 1:54.2 over Kabbalah Karen B and Jkmusicofthenite.

Ronnie Burke conditions the seven-time winner for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, JJK Stables LLC and Louis Starr. It was her sixth win of the season in 22 tries, and the winner’s share of the $75,300 purse bumped her overall earnings to $175,044.

On the undercard there were a quartet of $10,000 NJSS Green Acres divisions for pacing colts and geldings. Table And Chair (1:53.3) and Salazar (1:56) were popular winners in the sophomore events while A J Corbelli (1:56.1) and BJs Bequia (1:58).