Captain Albano leads PASS winners at Pocono

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Captain Albano (Captaintreacherous), last year’s champion two-year-old harness racing pacing colt, made his 2024 debut a success when he captured one of four divisions of the $157,776 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes second preliminary at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon (May 18).

Racing over a “sloppy” track (all eight of the stakes races save the first Stallion Series event were conducted in the slop. Captain Albano was outside most of the :27.1 first quarter to take command, then yielded to Ivy Park and sat in the two-hole behind that one through middle fractions of :55.2 and 1:23.4.

Todd McCarthy moved “The Captain” to the Pocono Pike and saw his colt gain immediately upon getting clear ground, and the driver looked confident in his horse even though the official margin was just a head over his game foe at the end of the 1:50.4 mile.

Captain Albano now has eight wins and two seconds in his ten-start career, with a bankroll of $465,402. Noel Daley trains Captain Albano for Patricia Stable, L A Express & Sjoblom Inc., and Michael Dolan.

CAPTAIN ALBANO REPLAY

The team of Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Odds On Racing are part-owners of two of the other Sire Stakes winners, including the fastest victor, Rush In (Heston Blue Chip), who got home in 1:50.2 to take his second straight Sire Stakes start. Scott Zeron made a power uncovered move down the backstretch after fractions of :26.2 and :54.4, cleared to the lead before the 1:22.1 three-quarters, and drew off by four lengths over Captain Skippy. Linda Toscano trains the colt, now four-for-six after not racing at two; South Mountain Stables and Island Sun Stable also share in his ownership.

RUSH IN REPLAY

Breeders Crown champion Gem Quality (Captain Crunch) now has two Pocono stakes wins in as many starts in this campaign, following up his Pennsylvania All-Stars win of last week with a 1:51 success here. Driven by Dexter Dunn for trainer Chris Ryder and owners Brad Grant and Enviro Stables in addition to Let It Ride / Odds On, the colt sat fourth through :27.1 and :55.3 opening splits, got underway raw before the 1:23.3 three-quarters, then won by 1¾ lengths over Armada Hanover.

GEM QUALITY REPLAY

In the other Sires cut, the Sweet Lou gelding Sweet Beach Life forced a :27.1 initial quarter before sitting pocketed behind midfractions of :55.4 and 1:22.4, then used the Pocono Pike to record a new mark of 1:50.4. The winner caught pacesetting Solid Character by a length for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Travis Alexander, and A Sweet Beach Life Stable.

SWEET BEACH LIFE REPLAY

Women Layer (Sweet Lou) is undefeated in five 2024 starts and the only double Stallion Series winner after a 1:51.4 victory in one of four $20,000 StS events. Todd McCarthy picked up a Stallion Series win to complement his victory with Captain Albano by guiding the gelding for trainer Brett Pelling and owners Howard and Judith Taylor, Order By Stable AB, and Jerry Silva.

Sweet Lou got a third siring credit in the day’s stakes with the gelding War Machine, a $55.00 upsetter who took a new mark of 1:52.3 for driver David Miller, trainer Ron Burke, and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Lawrence Karr, and Phil Collura. Captaintreacherous sired two Saturday stakes winners, including the colt Arson, a 1:52 winner when the track was still rated “good,” for driver Mark MacDonald, trainer Tim Twaddle, and Thestable Arson Group and Hutchinson Harness LLC.

The meet’s leading driver, Matt Kakaley, and trainer Travis Alexander completed a Sires-Stallion Series double with Target Acquired, a Betting Line gelding who lowered his lifetime best in 1:51.2, the day’s quickest StS clocking, for Fiddler’s Creek Stables LLC. The Kakaley/Alexander pairing also won the last race of the day to become the only horsemen with three successes on the card.

A sizable portion of this division is likely to be at Harrah’s Philadelphia in eight days time, as the third PA-sired prelim for this bracket is part of their Super Sunday card on May 26. The best of the Sire Stakes group will be back at Pocono on September 9 to race in their $252,000 Championship.

Sunday’s 6 p.m. card at Pocono Downs will be headed by three $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars contest for sophomore trotting colts, with many Hambletonian hopefuls looking to sharpen their form and earn their way onto the big card the first Saturday in August. Also, Sunday’s Pick-5 wager beginning in race five will have a carryover. Free Pocono programs are available at www.phha.org.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From the PHHA / Pocono Downs