Touched for the 1st time

After back-to-back races in which he was interfered, Always A Virgin found a true and unfettered trip to the winner’s circle last week and will attempt to repeat his success in the $450,000 Governor’s Cup on Saturday night at the Meadowlands.

“This horse is very special,” said trainer Josh Green. “We never have had any luck here (at the Meadowlands) so we are really excited.”

The Governor’s Cup is one of a quartet of stakes for 2 year olds along with the $439,000 Three Diamonds for pacing fillies, $432,700 Valley Victory for trotting colts and geldings and the $410,000 Goldsmith Maid for trotting fillies, collectively known as $1.7 million Fall Final Four.

Always A Virgin, a 2-year-old brown son of Western Ideal, was bred and is owned by Joseph Hurley’s Roll The Dice Stable of Wilmington, Del. Hurley sent the colt to Green late last year.

“We broke the colt,” he said. “We got him Dec. 1 from Joe Hurley. We have had other horses with him.

“He is a big colt,” Green explained. “It took him a while to come into his body. We took it slow with him and set him up for the late (season stakes) as a 2 year old. We are pointing him more to his 3-year-old season. We will shut him down after this. He is a big baby, but he is a nice colt.”

Always A Virgin began his racing career with wins in his first two pari-mutuel starts. He dabbled in stakes at Rosecroft and The Red Mile, finishing second in the $94,800 Bluegrass. He currently has three wins and two seconds in nine starts and earnings of $44,636.

In his Governor’s Cup elimination, Always A Virgin benefited from a pocket trip and, with a late surge in the final strides, scored a neck victory over Sutter Hanover and lowered his mark to 1:52.1.

“I am very excited,” Green said. “He got a good trip and raced well. Andy (Miller) gave him a great drive.”

Green was raised in a harness racing family, learning the business from his father, who now works with his son. “My dad (Gary) got me involved in the business,” said Green, a 32-year-old from Harrington, Del. “We live in Delaware now but moved here from Ohio. My dad now works with me.”

Green is having his best season to date in 2006 with 184 victories from 610 starts and earnings of $1,869,498.

“We have 41 horses in training,” he said. “Mainly pacers, but we have five trotters. We primarily have babies but when I first moved to Delaware, I was broke so we kept a few older horses. Now we have a mixture.” (Meadowlands)

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