PA All-Stars is bringing out the stars

Captain Fear Not (Captain Crunch-Mikayla Rose) was healthy for nearly all last year but picked the most inopportune time to come up under the weather. Sickness derailed the harness racing horse as he prepared for the biggest potential payday of his season, forcing owner Kathe Troy to scratch the lone horse in her stable from the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final for 2-year-old male pacers.

Troy hopes the stakes-winning 3-year-old gets the opportunity to make up for it this season.

So far so good. The gelding began his sophomore campaign last week with a 1:51.2 win in a $51,257 division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. On Saturday, he will compete in the third of four $30,000 divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs.

Last year, Captain Fear Not won two preliminary rounds of the PASS and a division of the Keystone Classic. He hit the board two additional times and earned $73,651. His mark of 1:51.2 was fourth best by a 2-year-old male pacer on a five-eighths-mile track.

“He was sick only two times last year, when he first shipped from Harrisburg (following his purchase at the Standardbred Horse Sale) to Florida, and then not again until that final for $252,000,” Troy said. “You can’t make that up. That was heartbreaking. Really heartbreaking. That could have made our year.

“I’m not going to say he could have won it, but he would have been OK in there. He would have been good. That hurt our final earnings for the year, for sure.”

Troy purchased Captain Fear Not under the name Salty Dog for $45,000 at the November 2022 Standardbred Horse Sale. Troy went to the sale with the intent of buying a Captain Crunch-sired yearling and decided on the colt after looking at all of them.

“I liked him right off the bat,” said Troy, who shares training duties with Paul Reid. “The look of him was just so beautiful and his video sold me. He videoed tremendously. I was lucky that no one went too high. I probably paid a little bit more than I really wanted to; I think I wanted to spend about $40,000. But once I was there, I wasn’t going to go. I was standing right in front of the bid catcher. I was thrilled to get him.”

Captain Fear Not was a handful in his early days but developed into a pleasant surprise.

“He had everybody on their toes for a while,” Troy said with a laugh. “Paul has done a great job with him. He’s come around and surprised us all. He’s just such a smart horse, exceptionally smart. That’s what I saw in him when I looked at him in Harrisburg. You have to start with some intelligence. That’s what I love the most about him. You show him something once and he’s good. He’s just such a good boy.”

Captain Fear Not is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line in his All-Stars division. He will leave from post four in the seven-horse field with Matt Kakaley in the sulky. Booming Economy, also a PASS winner last week, is the 5-2 favorite. He starts from post two with David Miller driving for trainer Ron Burke.

“He’s been a real enjoyable horse to own,” Troy said about Captain Fear Not, whose stakes schedule includes the North America Cup, Max C. Hempt Memorial, and Matron. “I’m cautiously optimistic about the season. I’m just going to have fun with this guy, not be stressed out, enjoy it.”

In the second All-Stars division, returning Breeders Crown champion Gem Quality, one of the top-five rated horses on the road to the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace, will make his season’s debut for trainer Chris Ryder and driver Dexter Dunn.

In the second All-Stars division, returning Breeders Crown champion Gem Quality (Captain Crunch-Twinkle), one of the top-five rated horses on the road to the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace, will make his season debut for trainer Chris Ryder and driver Dexter Dunn.

Last year, Gem Quality won four of eight races and hit the board two more times. The homebred earned $438,940 for owners Let It Ride Stables, Odds On Racing, Brad Grant, and Enviro Stables.

He captured the Breeders Crown at odds of 23-1 by 1-1/4 lengths over Captain Albano in a track-record 1:50 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

“I know he was a longshot, and maybe it was justified, but the horse has always had good speed,” Ryder said after the race. “He’s a really good sprinter, even against good horses. It’s not a surprise to me. I’m thrilled. We thought twice about coming here, but we thought, why not? And we pulled it off. You’ve got to be in it to win it. That’s what makes racing such a terrific business. You never know who’s really going to win.”

Gem Quality heads to the All-Stars off two qualifiers. He won the first in 1:52.1 with a :25.1 last quarter and won the second in 1:52.4 with a :26 final panel.

“He’s doing very well,” Ryder said. “We’re happy with him. I think we’re going in the right direction. When I go to qualify him, he shows me more than he shows me at home, when you go to race. I kind of like that. He just seems to have more pep in his step when he gets behind the gate.

“Hopefully, we do well and head up to the North America Cup.”

Gem Quality is the 5-2 favorite in his All-Stars division. He will leave from post six in a field of eight.

The 5-2 favorite in the first division is Solid Character, who will start from post five in a field of eight. He is trained by Burke and will have Miller in the sulky. In the fourth division, McCrunch is the 2-1 favorite for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Nancy Takter. He will leave from post one in a seven-horse field.

Racing begins at 1 p.m. (EDT) at Pocono Downs. For free race programs, visit the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association website.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA