Beach Towel’s million-dollar plus victory in the Meadowlands Pace is still riveting

by Frank Cotolo

I remember the hoopla going around and the anticipation of the 1990 million-dollar-plus Meadowlands Pace. Not just for the great field it drew and the anticipation of one great standardbred’s dominance over the lot as he headed for historic notation, but for me, the event was a professional growth experience; all to do with my transformation from a casual-turned-serious pari-mutuel racing gambler to a professional journalist in an industry of dedicated people on the backstretch, and on the tracks, and on farms all over the world.

The human element in the 14th edition of the event included distinct personalities I would meet and work with behind the scenes — which is the territory where I was comfortable and performed best during my former Hollywood years.

Of course in the spotlight was a spectacular harness horse race starring a tame-named colt that proved to be a beast of a pacer: Beach Towel.

But I digress.

The new decade of the ’90s was not short of world-shaking events. The Berlin Wall fell. Europe was shaking from a collapse of communism. Students marched for democracy in China. U.S. troops invaded Panama. Millions of gallons of oil spilled off the coast of Alaska in an historic environmental disaster. A World Series game in San Francisco was delayed by an earthquake. And on and on.

Not making headlines or history was my new life in Pennsylvania as a standardbred-sports journalist after decades of commercially accepted creative writing. I was physically closer to The Meadowlands than I was since when I left New York 11 years before. But in Pennsylvania by mid-July of ’90 I was an assistant editor of TIMES: in harness, a new standardbred publication. The 1990 Meadowlands Pace was a giant industry news event and my first exposure to the industry’s landmarks. The purse was $1,153,500. Huge considering that is $2,759,569.38 in 2026.

I did not travel to New Jersey to report the race; even though TIMES: had strong connections to Joe DeFrank, the race’s founder and the track’s race secretary who was also a share-holder in TIMES:. I was landlocked in rural Pennsylvania juggling deadlines as part of a small staff. I went to the local racetrack — Penn National — to cover the race via simulcast.

I strolled the grandstand on the second floor. It was obvious from the chatter that there were local bettors waiting for The Meadowlands event while juggling bets on the local thoroughbred program. The buzz about the race was the rivalry of two pacers: Beach Towel versus Jake And Elwood.

Having an overblown creative writing background I was not thrilled with the name Beach Towel. It was not as exciting or heroic as I preferred. As for Jake And Elwood? Naming a racehorse after two cartoon-like fictional comics was just silly. I preferred dramatic racehorse names; at least for colt racehorses. Equine athletes’ names, according to me, should include words like Strong and Mighty and King and Thunder. Not that I would rate a colt poorly if I considered its name weak. Petty. But I just have this thing about names that goes back to my adventure-reading thrills as a child. Beach Towel was not the first racehorse name I judged unfairly. I did not like the name Secretariat either. And I still do not.

Speaking of names. Beach Towel’s pedigree was full of horse names unknown to me. Some I liked and some I did not. But I was still learning about standardbred bloodlines in the industry. Much information came from my new workmates, specifically John Bradley and James Harrison’s landmark volume of inherent equine relations. I needed to learn more and more about bloodlines because it was not the area of knowledge deemed important to the common betting ilk I frequented on either coast. To help me focus on my education I decided not to handicap or bet the Meadowlands Pace and to watch it as an objective reporter; as a member of the industry’s insiders.

At Penn National I stationed myself beneath a large TV screen well before the race so I would not be crunched between the bettors and their breadths of rowdies rooting for the horses they backed once the race was off. From the start it was a strong story. Beach Towel by any other name was an impressive four-legged Pegasus. Driver Ray Remmen allowed his steed to take control of the two-turn path with no intention of letting any of his foes cross the wire before him. And in each quarter, it was Beach Towel stepping faster and faster and having more than enough speed to thwart Jack And Elwood and the other sophomore colts.

Beach Towel laughed at my petty name judging. I deserved it. I bowed in the general direction of the beast so that when the time came to report on the 1991 Meadowlands Pace I said, “Precious Bunny?” What is in a name?

After all, not every powerful 3-year-old pacer can have the all-time perfect name for his ilk. Yup. I mean Nihilator.