Hambo champ Captain Corey ready for return

In its previous nine editions, the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial for 3-year-old harness racing trotters was a precursor to the Hambletonian.

This year, thanks to a later date on the Grand Circuit schedule, the race  features the Hambletonian champ.

Captain Corey, who won the $1 million Hambletonian Stakes on Aug. 7, headlines a nine-horse field in Saturday’s $300,000 Beal Memorial at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. The colt, trained and driven by Ake Svanstedt, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite as a coupled entry with stablemate Delayed Hanover.

The Beal Memorial is part of Pocono’s stakes-filled Sun Stakes Saturday card, which also includes the $250,000 Delmonica Hanover for 3-year-old female trotters, $300,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial for 3-year-old pacers, and $250,000 James M. Lynch Memorial for 3-year-old female pacers. Racing begins at 12:30 p.m. (EDT).

Captain Corey is undefeated in three previous appearances at Pocono, including a stakes-record 1:53.3 triumph in last season’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship for 2-year-old male trotters.

For his career, Captain Corey has won eight of 12 starts and $915,333 for owners S R F Stable, Knutsson Trotting Inc., Midnight Sun Partners Inc., and Ake Svanstedt Inc.

In the Hambletonian, Captain Corey was pressed to a :26 opening quarter, the fastest first quarter in the final’s history, and remained under pressure until coming out of the last turn. From there, he pulled away from the field, and won by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:51.

“A lot of people were talking that if they gave Captain Corey some pressure, he would stop,” Svanstedt said. “But he is tougher than people understand. Now they know he is a tough horse. He’s very nice and friendly, but he’s a tough horse.”

Captain Corey raced without shoes in the Hambletonian and will go barefoot again in the Beal.

“He was very light and smooth gaited,” Svanstedt said. “The time (in the Hambletonian) was (1):51, but I think he can go faster. Normally, they get faster. But that was a different race because they went so fast the first half.”

Captain Corey’s sire, Googoo Gaagaa, won the 2012 Beal Memorial in a then-world-record 1:50.4.

In addition to Captain Corey, Saturday’s Beal includes Hambletonian finalists Spy Booth, who finished second, Delayed Hanover, Take All Comers, Sonofamistery, and Locatelli.

Delayed Hanover, owned by Mellby Gard and Ake Svanstedt Inc., finished fourth in the Hambletonian. Svanstedt also trains Beal contender Johan Palema, who is 3-1 on the morning line. Johan Palema, owned by Bender Sweden Inc., won the Yonkers Trot in July but missed the Hambletonian after finishing seventh in his elimination.

Johan Palema, who will be driven by Yannick Gingras, has four wins and a second in six starts this year while Delayed Hanover, who will be driven by Dexter Dunn, has three wins and a second in six races. They will join Captain Corey in going barefoot in the Beal.

“Johan Palema raced so good earlier this year, every race was good for him,” Svanstedt said. “And then the important race, the Hambletonian elimination, he was bad. He got tired. Maybe he just had a bad day. We couldn’t find anything specific wrong. After that, he trained good, and everything seems normal. I hope he can do a good race.”

Svanstedt won the 2019 Beal Memorial with Marseille, who upset favorite Greenshoe at odds of 57-1.

Two races prior to the Beal, Svanstedt will send out Flawless Country and Wet My Whistle in the $250,000 Delmonica Hanover. Svanstedt shares ownership of both fillies, who will race as a coupled entry in the wagering.

The entry is the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

Flawless Country finished no worse than second in nine races last year, winning five, including the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final for 2-year-old filly trotters at Pocono. This year, she is winless in seven starts.

“Maybe we are a little spoiled because she was so good last year,” Svanstedt said. “She’s raced OK, but maybe the competition is tougher this year. They must move forward from (age) 2 to 3. Maybe she has not moved forward as much as the other horses.”

Svanstedt will drive Flawless Country while Gingras will drive Wet My Whistle, who has won four of 19 career starts.

“She has talent, she always trains good, but she must be in a good mood to race good,” Svanstedt said about Wet My Whistle. “She has a temper. We can’t find out why she is like that. I hope she is in a better mood so that she can race better. She has a bad post (nine). We’ll see what she can do.”

Free Pocono program pages can be found here at the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association website.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA