stakes Recaps

Captain Albano storms home to upset in Hempt

Captain Albano moved to the outside from the pocket coming off the final turn and got to favorite Legendary Hanover just prior to the wire to win Saturday’s $300,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial for 3-year-old pacers by a nose in 1:48.3 at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs. Gem Quality finished third.

Driver Todd McCarthy and Captain Albano got to the front in a :27.1 opening quarter as Legendary Hanover, who got off the gate in fourth from post seven, pressed forward in a bid for the lead. Legendary Hanover, the 1-5 favorite, finally cleared Captain Albano heading to the second turn and reached the half in :55.1 and three-quarters in 1:22.1.

Captain Albano, sent off at odds of 10-1, came home with a :26.1 last panel to notch his third victory in a row, following wins in his Adios elimination on July 20 and the Adios final on July 27.

“Everything sort of really went to plan in the first quarter for me and I was sort of content to follow (Legendary Hanover),” McCarthy said. “When he came, I just wanted to keep the speed on a little bit and make him step around, but I didn’t want to do too much, as well.

“Coming off the (last) turn my horse felt really good. I probably went a little bit earlier than normal, but it’s not quite as long a stretch here as some of the bigger tracks that he’s used to, so I wanted to get him out and going.”

Captain Albano, the 2023 Dan Patch Award winner for 2-year-old male pacers, has won five of nine races this season and 12 of 18 in his career, good for earnings of $929,195. The Noel Daley trainee has finished worse than third only once.

“Earlier on in the year, things just weren’t going our way,” McCarthy said. “I sort of wanted to drive him a little more forward after that.

“He showed his heart, and his determination and Noel has had the horse spot on all year. He’s just been an absolute pleasure to drive.”

Captain Albano is owned by Patricia Stable, L.A. Express Stable, Sjoblom Racing, and Michael Dolan. The son of Captaintreacherous-Angelou was bred by Frederick Hertrich III.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Captain Luke, the winner of the Governor’s Cup last year, decided to govern the pace in the $200,000 Hempt Consolation I and made his lead stand in 1:50.1, although McCrunch kept coming on from first-over and narrowed the margin to a neck at the wire. Solid Character was third. Captain Luke is a $560,524-winning son of Captaintreacherous-Bodacious Hanover trained by Tony Alagna for Robert LeBlanc, Pryde Stables, Brad Grant, and Steven Head.

Driver Dexter Dunn won his third of the four Consolation II events (he was third in the other) by working out a second-over trip with the Always B Miki-Night Music gelding Its Saturday Night, going wide to the stretch lead, and then stopping the timer in a lifetime best 1:51.3 for trainer Nifty Norman and owner Dune Road Stables in the $100,000 Hempt event. Its Saturday Night was the 8-5 second choice; the 3-2 favorite Number Cruncher went a big mile himself, making a break amidst leavers early, recovering and moving fourth-over, and then closing powerfully to miss by only three parts of a length. Captain Fear Not was third.

Confederate stalks, pounces in Hempt

After vaulting home with :25.4 closing quarters to win both the Meadowlands Pace and the Cane Pace, Confederate obliterated yet another field of 3-year-old male pacers in Saturday’s (Aug. 19) $300,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, soaring off second-over cover to a 1:48.3 win — his sixth in seven tries this season.

The three innermost starters — Christchurch, Hungry Angel Boy and Stockade Seelster — threw down as the gates folded, and Christchurch (driven by Yannick Gingras) threaded up the pegs to secure the top spot through a :26.1 quarter. Despite sustained pressure from the parked Stockade Seelster (David Miller), Christchurch maintained the lead to a :53.3 half, and Confederate, whom Tim Tetrick rated fourth off the early skirmish, moved into the prime second-over striking spot.

“I got away fourth and was happy to be there, and they were racing up front. I had to pull at the half to follow Dave’s parked horse — Dave’s horse raced great, kept fighting all the way. My horse did the rest from there; he’s pretty special.”

To say that the Sweet Lou-Geothermal colt did the rest from there was an understatement. After Christchurch hit three-quarters in 1:21, Confederate uncorked a three-wide rally turning for home, and he struck the front in the final sixteenth before widening his lead to three lengths at the winning post while in hand throughout. Stockade Seelster protected second after leveling off; Christchurch was a worn-down third.

“He just likes to win and he’s super fast,” said Tetrick, who has driven the Brett Pelling trainee for Diamond Creek Racing in all of his sophomore starts. “It’s worked out that I’ve been able to race him off cover. He’s sharp, and he loves passing horses. As long as the trip allows me to do that, I think the horse will last a lot longer doing that. Usually, these colts are tired by now or getting tired, and I think he’s getting fresher and stronger. He loves his work.”

Confederate, who paid $2.10 to win, has won 11 of 14 races lifetime and has banked $1,281,629 in purses.

After finishing a traffic-troubled sixth in the Adios and narrowly missing older company in an overnight event last week, Ken Hanover ($2.20) outlasted a bevy of challengers throughout a 1:49 mile to capture the $200,000 first consolation of the Hempt. The Captaintreacherous-KJ’s Justine colt dueled wide of pole sitter Command through the entire first turn before clearing for control just past a :26.2 first quarter but found no breathers upon clearing as Ervin Hanover advanced uncovered to force a :53.1 half. As Ervin Hanover began to fade with three-eighths to go, Joemikiyoursofine mounted a three-wide push toward Ken Hanover, but the pacesetter did well to hold his ground to three-quarters in 1:20.3 — all while 20-1 long shot Command bided his time in the pocket. Command found room to take his shot in upper stretch, but Ken Hanover — driven out by Tim Tetrick the length of the lane — clung to the lead by a diminishing neck over the game Command. Joemikiyoursofine saved third despite fading through the final turn.

Trainer Roland “Polie” Mallar co-owns Ken Hanover, now a 10-time winner with $353,395 in career earnings, with Patrick Leavitt, William Jordan and Dennis Osterholt.

Ohio invader Act Fast ($4.00) was a decisive front-end winner in the $100,000 second consolation. After driver Yannick Gingras floated Act Fast forward to clear Hungry Man at the end of a :27 first quarter, they traveled uncontested through middle splits of :54.3 and 1:22 before edging 2-3/4 lengths clear of Hungry Man at the end of a 1:49.3 mile. Lyons Surfing collared Lousain Bolt for third up the inside. Ron Burke trains the Downbytheseaside-Act Like A Diva colt, now a seven-time winner, for Burke Racing Stable, Knox Services, Rich Lombardo Racing and Beasty LLC.

Beach Glass holds off Bythemissal in Hempt Memorial

The importance of track geometry was never shown more clearly than in the $300,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace for 3-year-old males on Saturday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, as Beach Glass and driver Yannick Gingras took full advantage of the rail to defeat hot horse and favorite Bythemissal in 1:50.

Beach Glass and Bythemissal, who started from post three, had their hooves all the way down on the accelerator early, with Beach Glass able to keep Bythemissal outside en route to a searing :25.2 quarter before the latter tucked second.

The hoof shifted from gas to brake in the second quarter, with Beach Glass able to back the half off to :55.1. Bythemissal (Chris Page) came back for more first-over down the backstretch, with the three-quarters reached in 1:22 (partially attributable to the backstretch tailwind/homestretch headwind).

It wasn’t just these two colts slugging it out late: Layton Hanover, at 80-1, menaced in the Pocono Pike, and Fourever Boy was narrowing in quickly. But it was Beach Glass, a colt by trainer Brent MacGrath’s beloved Somebeachsomewhere, who earned the half-length decision.

“He needed the week off,” MacGrath noted after the race, “and he trained really well this week.” He ended his interview with the understatement of the day: “Post position means a lot.”

Lawless Shadow captures hempt

Lawless Shadow and driver Mark MacDonald used track geometry to perfect advantage on a speed-favoring day, bursting away to set the pace from the rail in the $300,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial on Saturday (Aug. 21) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and then holding off Perfect Sting in 1:48.2.

Lawless Shadow, Perfect Sting (post four), and Hellabalou (post six) all started the race in maximum gear, but as the first turn loomed and Lawless Shadow showed no signs of letting up, Perfect Sting tucked second and Hellabalou third, though still paying a price in the :25.2 red-hot opening quarter. MacDonald was able to back off the son of Shadow Play to a :54 half, then accelerated as Southwind Gendry came up first-over before the 1:21.2 three-quarters.

The Pocono “inner groove” on the warm (81 degrees) afternoon surfaced again as the horses off the pegs faded on the far turn, and the race came down to the leader and the pocket sitter, who kept eating into the leader’s advantage, but came up a nose shy as he continued a hard-luck campaign.

Lawless Shadow, the official winner of The Meadowlands Pace, has had better luck, and here he took a new mark while winning for trainer Dr. Ian Moore, co-owner with R G McGroup LTD, hockey great Serge Savard, and Frank Cannon, for whom he now has career earnings of $791,064, $558,625 of that this year.

“I was taking no prisoners from the rail with the two horses coming at me,” MacDonald said afterwards. “Coming to the wire, I knew Perfect Sting was a great horse, and it was a hard race to the wire.”

Dr. Ian Moore could have told MacDonald that he was in a good spot late: “I was afraid he might come up dull after being hung the mile last week, but warming up, I knew he would be ready to go today.”