Rock N Roll Heaven won the $604,100 Little Brown Jug - the second leg of the pacing Triple Crown - on Thursday at Delaware County Fairgrounds, matching the world record for 3-year-old pacers on a half-mile track by finishing in 1:49 2-5 in both his heat race and the final.
Daniel Dube drove Rock N Roll Heaven to victory for owner Frank J. Bellino and trainer Bruce Saunders.
''I've been reluctant to call him a great horse, but he is a great horse,'' Saunders said. ''He's proven that. He's tenacious and he's got vicious high speed.''
Rock N Roll Heaven beat I'm Gorgeous and Razzle Dazzle by 2 1/4 lengths in the final after winning his heat race by 3 lengths.
''The race worked out the way I wanted it to,'' Dube said. ''He got to the front and got a breather. Then it was all over.''
One More Laugh, winner of the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Cane Pace on Sept. 6 at Freehold Raceway in New Jersey, finished third in his qualifying heat and was scratched from the final.
Dube said he wasn't worried about Rock N Roll Heaven racing twice in a day for the first time.
''He was so relaxed after the first heat,'' Dube said.
The winner earned $280,303, bringing his career winnings to $1,803,904. In 23 lifetime starts, he has won 13 times and has six seconds and two third-place finishes.
The third leg of the Triple Crown is the Messenger Stakes on Nov. 6 at Yonkers Raceway in New York.
