Many of the sport's top Standardbreds were in action during the stakes-loaded Sun Stakes Saturday program at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Saturday, Aug. 17.

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 favourite Legendary Hanover just prior to the wire to win Saturday’s $410,959 Max C. Hempt Memorial for three-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 favourite, 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 two-year-old male pacers, has won five of nine races this season and 12 of 18 in his career, good for earnings of $1,111,359. 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 $273,973 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 $675,541-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 $136,986 Hempt event. Its Saturday Night was the 8-5 second choice; the 3-2 favourite 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.

Sig Sauer Captures Earl Beal Memorial

Sig Sauer, lightly-raced but with tons of ability, “saved the dignity” of the favourites in the major three-year-old races on Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs’ Sun Stakes Saturday, winning the $410,959 Earl Beal Memorial in 1:51.3.

Early attrition due to breaks, including T C I, helped the victorious Muscle Hill-Sigilwig colt go up to the pocket early behind Situationship, then come again before the :27.4 quarter to take over the racetrack. After a half clocking of :56.4, Sig Sauer put in successive quarters of :27.2, and he needed all of that late to hold off the inside charger Situationship by a neck.

The victory gave trainer Noel Daley wins in the two major colt races, after Captain Albano, and gave the McCarthy brothers victories in the top events for males, as Andrew McCarthy piloted Sig Sauer after brother Todd directed Captain Albano.

Afterwards Daley noted, “We might have had a chance in the Hambletonian, but the trip wasn’t quite the right one that day. Today the colt showed he was versatile, handy, with his speed, and he does love to race, although sometimes he’s a bit of a handful around the barn.”

Sig Sauer has raced only 10 times in his career, winning six of those starts, and now has pushed his bankroll to $698,718 for Patricia Stable, Joe Sbrocco & JAF Racing, Allister Stables, and Caviart Farms.

Dexter Dunn wound up winning four of the eight consolation races on Sun Stakes Saturday (with the purses in those four “consolation” races totaling $475,000) after succeeding with the Muscle Hill-Dreamgirl Hornline colt Tony Adams S in the $273,973 Beal Consolation I. The winner, an Ake Svanstedt stable member owned by Stall Arsenal AB, went a lifetime-best-equaling 1:51.4 to win by 3-1/2 lengths over Wild Ticket. Victor Laszlo was third. Tony Adams S was the third leader in the second quarter, but no one else would be on top during :55-:27 back fractions, especially after favoured Private Access broke in the pocket on the far turn.

Life On The Bluf retook the lead from fast starter Greenspan past the quarter in the $136,986 Beal Consolation II, then had to continue at a quick clip in a fight with favoured Smart Schooner, parked every step. The Greenshoe-Firm To Stay gelding Greenspan enjoyed the perfect seat just behind this duel, found room in the stretch, and was handled confidently by Dunn in wearing down the leader more easily than the half-length margin may suggest. Trainer Jim Campbell’s sophomore took three seconds off his lifetime mark with the 1:52.2 victory for owner Runthetable Stables. It Wasnt Me finished third.

Odds On Platinum Grinds To Lynch Win

Odds On Platinum and driver Todd McCarthy came with a sustained first-over march from the backstretch and caught pacesetter Rocket Deo in the final step to win Saturday’s $342,466 James M. Lynch Memorial for three-year-old female pacers by a nose in a stakes-record-equaling 1:49 at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs. Pocket-sitter Caviart Belle was third.

Odds On Platinum got away fourth as several fillies left the gate quickly, with Rocket Deo, driven by Andy McCarthy, eventually settling on top just after a :26.1 opening quarter. From there, Rocket Deo set fractions of :54.2 and 1:21.4 before battling Caviart Belle to her inside and Odds On Platinum to the outside, with Odds On Platinum securing the narrow triumph.

“That’s not typically the way she races; she usually breaks the gate very quickly, and today I guess there were others that were doing the same thing,” winning trainer Ian Moore said about Odds On Platinum. “It all worked out. She’s very tough and we’re really proud of her.

“I thought it might be a little difficult with that bunch, first up, but she just keeps on going. She won’t quit. We’re looking forward to her next one now, but we’ll savour this one for tonight.”

Todd McCarthy has won three of the last four editions of the Lynch. He set the stakes record with Grace Hill in 2021 before equaling it with Odds On Platinum on Saturday.

“I thought (I won) but I guess it was a little closer than I thought it was,” McCarthy said. “She showed a lot of guts there. That’s a big run to come first over like that after stepping out of there for an eighth. She really was determined to dig in there. I was really happy with her.”

Odds On Platinum has won five of 11 races this year and seven of 22 lifetime, earning $788,198. She is owned by Let It Ride Stables and Odds On Racing. The daughter of Bettors Delight-American Jewel was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms. American Jewel won the Lynch in 2012.

“She’s matured quite a bit this year,” Moore said about Odds On Platinum. “She used to be very aggressive, even to jog at home. Now you can jog her with two fingers, no problem. She can race from the front, from the back, wherever. We really love her.”

The front end produced no winners in the first five races of Sun Stakes Saturday, but driver Scott Zeron changed that situation with the Captain Crunch-Pardon filly Dandys Mercy, who showed no mercy in the $171,233 Lynch Consolation. The winner made two speed moves in controlling the throttle on the way to going to a new mark of 1:49.3, with second-place Asweetbeachhere no closer than 3-1/4 lengths off at the wire. Miraculous Deo was third. John Butenschoen trains the winner of half her 16 lifetime starts for Hart Walker, Dandy Farms Racing, FT Racing Stable, and Douglas Overhiser.

The Stay Hungry-Yoselin Seelster filly Staying With Emily stayed in third most of the $102,740 James Lynch Memorial Consolation II, then was moved first-over by driver Dexter Dunn late in the backstretch. The Ron Burke trainee quickly engaged favoured pacesetter Sarasota Hanover, then wore that one down in the stretch to win by 1-1/2 lengths in a lifetime-best 1:50. Chiapanecas was third. Staying With Emily is owned by Brad Grant.

Warrawee Michelle impressive In $250,000 Delmonica Hanover Trot

 Ake Svanstedt won his third race of the day, and James MacDonald picked up a great catch-drive and did the most with it, as the Walner-Sound Check filly Warrawee Michelle was an impressive wire-to-wire winner in the $342,466 Delmonica Hanover Trot in a track and stakes-record-equaling 1:51.3 on Saturday at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs.

The 1:51.3 clocking had been the time of 2022 Delmonica Hanover winner Joviality S, while Check Me Out and Designed To Be also have a share of the Pocono divisional mark.

“Ake told me that I should leave with her, and I did,” MacDonald understated, and Warrawee Michelle buzzed away from the outside post eight to have command well before the :27.2 quarter, then got to the half in :56.2. The outer tier consisted of French Champagne and then the two favourites, Buy A Round and Elista Hanover, but it was the first-over who had the most trot after the 1:23.2 three-quarters, giving a challenge to the winner that she answered by 2-1/4 lengths.

“I felt pretty confident around the last turn,” MacDonald said, “since I had the lead, I hadn’t stretched my filly too much, and the favourites weren’t that close-up.” MacDonald had every right to be confident in the Breeders Crown and Hambletonian Oaks winner, as she raised her lifetime earnings to $1,023,986 for Ake Svanstedt Inc., Santandrea Inc., and Young Guns.

Driver David Miller let the Bar Hopping-Snow Angel Hanover filly Sambuca Hanover gradually make the lead in front of the stands, and the sophomore never relinquished control the rest of the way in the $171,233 Delmonica Hanover Consolation en route to a 1:52.4 lifetime mark for trainer Nifty Norman and owners David McDuffee, Paul Bordogna, and Melvin Hartman. The connections of the winner of $432,916 were not sorry to see the wire come as chalk Paulina Hanover was second-over but behind bad cover, had to duck inside and then await inside clearance, and missed by a head. Nymeria was third.

The Walner-Spring Gala filly Soiree Hanover, a winner of $607,955 at age two against stakes opposition but winless in three starts at three, came with a giant move around the far turn to go to the lead and drew off to a lifetime best of 1:52.2 in the $102,740 Delmonica Hanover Consolation II, 3-3/4 lengths to the good of Cheval Rapide. Slip Sliding Away was third. Tim Tetrick drove the winner, who powered her last half in :55, for trainer Lucas Wallin and owner Snogarps Gard Inc.

Jiggy Jog S, Ruthless Hanover win Pocono Invites

Jiggy Jog S extended her win streak to eight races by capturing the $136,986 Sebastian K Invitational Trot and Ruthless Hanover got back in the victory column by winning the card-closing $136,986 Always B Miki Invitational Pace on Sun Stakes Saturday at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs.

The Sebastian K Invitational is named after the horse who went a 1:49 mile over Pocono’s five-eighths-mile track — a clocking not beaten on an oval that size in the 10 years since. And this year’s race was taken by another pupil of trainer Ake Svanstedt, the great mare Jiggy Jog S, who overcame several problem situations to win by a head over Lexus Kody in 1:52.1.

Hillexotic was yielding to Black Magic mid-first turn when making a break; this led to Lexus Kody, who was parked, to go on to the lead in :26.4. Jiggy Jog S tucked in third, then had to be alert to avoid the breaking Black Magic in front of the stands and moved up to the pocket. Lexus Kody got a breather to the :56.2 half, then picked the tempo up a bit to a 1:24.4 three-quarters clocking as Periculum made a good first-over move, with Jiggy Jog S awaiting clearance from the two-hole.

Jiggy Jog S, the 1-9 favourite, came home in :27.1 as she gradually went on to victory, with Lexus Kody missing just a head and Periculum only three-quarters of a length back.

Dexter Dunn, winning his fourth straight race on the card, noted that “the mare handled herself professionally” amidst the early confusion.

“She’s responded to everything well,” he said. “We wound up in the pocket, a good trip, and it took a stride or two for her to find her top gear, but she showed her ability and went by.”

Jiggy Jog S is now undefeated in four seasonal starts for earnings of $309,188. Lifetime, the daughter of Walner-Hot Mess Hanover has won 22 times in 39 outings, accumulating a bankroll of $2,796,306. She is owned by Ake Svanstedt Inc., Steve Stewart, John Lengacher, and Hickory Hollow Stables. She was bred by Vestmarka AB.

In the Always B Miki Invitational, three horses — Hellabalou, Coaches Corner, and Ruthless Hanover — engaged in a three-wide battle for the lead that endured for more than three-eighths of a mile before Ruthless Hanover and driver George Napolitano Jr. landed on top in a :53.2 half.

From there, Ruthless Hanover remained on top, reaching three-quarters in 1:20.2 and the finish in 1:48. He won by two lengths over Voukefalas, with Coaches Corner finishing third.

Ruthless Hanover is trained by Tom Cancelliere and owned by John Cancelliere. The seven-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere-Rockaroundthetrack has won three of six races this season and 25 of 60 lifetime, banking $773,014. He was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms.

Wagering on the Sun Stakes Saturday card exceeded $1 million, at $1,007,875.

The live stream of Sun Stakes Saturday, courtesy PHHA, is available below.

(PHHA / Pocono)