Freehold Raceway, the oldest pari-mutuel harness track in the U.S., will resume live harness racing on Thursday when the facility will open for its summer/fall meet

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The meet will be highlighted by the $300,000 (est.) final of the Cane Pace and the $145,000 (est.) Shady Daisy. Eliminations for the Cane Pace will be contested Saturday, August 28 with the final scheduled for Labour Day, Monday, September 6. The Shady Daisy will also be contested on Labour Day.

Races for New Jersey-sired horses are well represented on the schedule. Renowned events such as the Lou Babic ($100,000 est. final), the Harold Dancer ($80,000 est. final), the Helen Smith ($85,000 est. final), the Lou Babic for fillies ($60,000 est. final), the Harold Dancer for fillies ($80,000 est. final) and the Charles I. Smith ($100,000 est. final) are on the schedule.

Freehold will also host the New Jersey Sire Stakes fall championship series, which will culminate in eight $100,000 guaranteed divisional finals for two and three-year-old trotting fillies and colts, and two and three-year-old pacing fillies and colts. Also, the Green Acres Series will feature eight $50,000 divisional finals, and there will be four open divisions of the New Jersey Futurity held at Freehold during the fall.

Freehold will conduct live racing four days per week, Wednesday through Saturday. Special holiday racing will be offered on Labour Day and Columbus Day.

First-race post times for the meet will be at 12:30 p.m.

NJSS This Week At Freehold

Phase 2 of the 2010 New Jersey Sire Stakes Program will begin this week at Freehold Raceway, which will feature top state-bred Premier Division three-year-old trotting colts on Friday and three-year-old pacing colts on Saturday.

The NJSS Freehold season actually opens on Thursday, August 12 with three Green Acres races. A pair of nine-horse fields of three-year-old pacing fillies and one eight-horse field of three-year-old trotting colts and geldings will be heading postward.

On Friday, the Premier Division races for three-year-old trotting colts will take centre stage. The first of the two eight-horse splits will feature Take My Picture, winner of the recent $50,000 Townsend Ackerman at the Meadowlands and runner-up in this year’s $573,770 Yonkers Trot. Trained by Taylor Gower for owners Joseph and Laurie Davino, the colt has earned $230,967 in purse money this year and $298,308 lifetime. He currently holds a mark of 1:54.1.

Senor Glide is scheduled to be in the tilt with Take My Picture. The $308,259 career earner was the NJSS' Two-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year in 2009. He is trained by Jimmy Takter for co-owners Christina Takter, John Fielding and Frederick Hentrich III.

Friday's second eight-horse tilt will include Flex The Muscle, who was second to Take My Picture in the Townsend Ackerman and second to the eventual 2010 Hambletonian winner, Muscles Massive, in the $200,000 NJSS Championship Final for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings at the Meadowlands.

Also in the field is Break The Bank K, who was third in the $200,000 NJSS Final. Trained by Trond Smedshammer for owner Robert Key, he has career earnings of $288,594, most of which was at two in 2009.

NJ-sired three-year-old pacers will compete Saturday with separate divisional competition for fillies and colts and geldings.

(With files from Freehold and the NJSS)