Beach Towel Named ’90 Harness Horse of Year

Beach Towel, the first harness horse to win $2 million in one season, was chosen 1990 Harness Horse of the Year in a landslide vote today by the U.S. Harness Writers Assn.

Beach Towel got 273 of 312 first-place ballots from the U.S. Harness Writers.

Miss Easy, the top 2-year-old filly pacer, was second with 13 votes, followed by older pacer Donorunrun Bluegrass with eight, and 2-year-old pacer Artplace with six.

Beach Towel is owned by 24-year-old Seth Rosenfeld’s Uptown Stable in New York. The horse had 18 victories and four second-place finishes in 23 starts and earned $2,091,860. Rosenfeld purchased Beach Towel as a yearling in 1988 for $22,000. The horse is now at stud at Wainridge Farm in Creamridge, N.J.

On Wednesday, Beach Towel was named 1990 Pacer of the Year in balloting by the harness writers and Hambletonian winner Harmonious was named Trotter of the Year.

Beach Towel also was named 3-year-old Colt Pacer of the Year with 306 votes.

Breeders Crown champions Artsplace and Miss Easy, known as the “Ruffian of harness racing,” won the male and female divisions in the juvenile pacers category--as did Breeders Crown 2-year-old champion trotters Crysta’s Best and Jean Bi.

No Sex Please was a near-unanimous choice as the top older trotting colt. Last year’s Trotter of the Year as a 3-year-old, Peace Corp, was named top older trotting mare. Town Pro was named the top 3-year-old pacing filly. That honor among trotters went to Breeders Crown winner Me Maggie.