Tony Alagna surpasses 2,000th training win

Hightstown, NJ — Tony Alagna got career training win 2,000 on Sunday (June 18) when Saldana Hanover (Captaintreacherous) won the fifth race at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania. George Napolitano Jr. was in the sulky. The 3-year-old filly’s sire was Pacer of the Year for Alagna in 2012 and 2013 before becoming one of the sport’s prominent sires.

Alagna, 51, had his first full season as a trainer in 2010. He has won more than 100 races in 11 of the past 12 years (he had 99 in 2017) and is coming off back-to-back seasons with career-best 212-win campaigns.

He set a career high for purses in 2022 with $9.28 million, which ranked second among all trainers in North America. His lifetime total of $67.2 million ranks eighth since the inception of official trainer stats in 1991.

A native of Illinois, Alagna followed his mom, Donna Lee, into the sport. He had a pony at the age of 3, was reading up on pedigrees at 9, and solely responsible for his first horse at 10. Soon after graduating from high school, Alagna was assisting his mom with her stable. He worked for several other trainers before going on his own in 2009.

In addition to Captaintreacherous, Alagna’s stars have included female trotter Ramona Hill, who beat the boys in the 2020 Hambletonian and was a two-time Dan Patch Award winner.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA