Noel Daley entered 2024 believing he had two of harness racing’s top three-year-old colts, pacer Captain Albano and trotter Sig Sauer, in his stable.
Exiting the season, those horses were named Dan Patch Award winners and helped propel Daley to his first U.S. Trainer of the Year honour.
With Captain Albano’s victory in September’s Little Brown Jug and Sig Sauer’s triumph in October’s Kentucky Futurity, Daley became only the fourth trainer since 1986 to win a Triple Crown race with each a pacer and trotter in the same year. Daley joined Tony Alagna (2020), Ron Burke (2017) and Jimmy Takter (2009, 2014) on the list of trainers to pull off that double in the past 38 years.
But Daley’s successes went beyond his award-winning duo. The conditioner picked up Grand Circuit wins with seven other horses, totalling 19 victories on the circuit, and notched state-bred stakes victories with an additional 10.
Among his other stakes winners last year were Buy A Round (who earned $533,299), Miss I La ($460,530), Onajetplane ($317,058) and Paulina Hanover ($251,050). Buy A Round finished second in the Hambletonian Oaks and Miss I La was second in the Kentucky Filly Futurity. He also trained Miss Belmar, a Breeders Crown runner-up.
All totalled, Daley’s stable banked $6.67 million in purses — a career high. His stable’s $4.87 million USD earnings ranked 11th among all trainers in North America, with Daley’s 603 starts being at least 299 fewer than seven of the trainers ahead of him.
“We had a bit of depth. That’s probably what got it for us,” said Daley, referring to his Trainer of the Year Award. “Obviously, we had the pacer and the trotter in the colts, but we had a few others that were able to have their moments in the sun. That all helped, I think.
“To be honest, I thought I’d have a shot in there, but I didn’t think I would get it. That was a little bit of a surprise. I was just hoping the two three-year-olds got their divisional honours, so I was pretty happy we got the lot. The ball landed in our court this year; we’ll take it.”
Sig Sauer hit the board in six of 10 races, winning five and earning nearly $1.2 million while driven by Andy McCarthy. In addition to the Kentucky Futurity, the colt’s triumphs included a Breeders Crown, the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial and a division of the Stanley Dancer.
Sig Sauer was the season’s fastest three-year-old trotter, with a mark of 1:49.3, which he set in the Kentucky Futurity despite a parked-out trip. Only one three-year-old trotter in history has gone faster, Six Pack with a 1:49.1 mile in the 2018 Kentucky Futurity.
“Sig Sauer winning the Kentucky Futurity was about the most satisfying moment I’ve ever had as a trainer,” said Daley. “Just getting him there. It was a balance between having him sound enough and fit enough. We just had to manage him.
“Andy basically left out of there, dropped in for about five steps and then was parked every step. But [Sig Sauer] showed him who he was that day. He was just the best of them. A good Sig Sauer, a sound Sig Sauer, I think on his day was just better than them. He wanted to do it, so that was a big help. He was a pretty determined horse.”
Sig Sauer was retired following his win in the Breeders Crown. The stallion is at Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania for the 2025 breeding season. The son of Muscle Hill-Sigilwig was owned during his racing career by Patricia Stable, Joe Sbrocco & JAF Racing, Allister Stables and Caviart Farms.
“In the Breeders Crown, Andy just gave him a great trip. That was a good way to end out for him,” said Daley. “His book was full in no time with a book of good mares. He’s going to have every chance. With his personality, his determination, I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t get the job done there. He’s got breeding and he was a real looker, that horse.”
Captain Albano was a repeat Dan Patch Award winner. He hit the board in 16 of 18 races last year, winning 12 and earning $1.5 million while driven by Todd McCarthy. In addition to the Little Brown Jug, the colt’s victories included the Adios, Max C. Hempt Memorial, Progress Pace and Matron Stakes. He is owned by Patricia Stable, LA Express & Sjoblom Inc., Sjoblom Racing and Michael Dolan.
He joined Perfect Sting, Tall Dark Stranger, Somebeachsomewhere, Captaintreacherous and Bettors Delight as male pacers to be Dan Patch Award winners at both two and three this century.
“'Albano' was just so honest,” said Daley. “He sort of just was unlucky in the big ones, but he showed in the other races that he could do it.
“He was so good Jug Day. He came out of the first heat and couldn’t blow a match out. I thought that if they couldn’t beat him in the first heat, there’s no shot they’re going to beat him in the second heat. I was super confident he would win that. All his owners were there, they all made the trip. That was really good for them. It was a lot of fun.”
Captain Albano was expected to retire to stallion duty this year, but after fertility testing, the decision was made to return to the races.
“That wasn’t planned,” said Daley. “I raced him so long, we basically two days later [after the Progress Pace in late November] had to test him. They thought he was just having a blockage. It went on for a week, 10 days, and then it got too late that you had to let people know. He was going to have a full book, but we couldn’t hold people to him while we waited.
“If I had to bring one back, I don’t mind bringing him back at all. I’m going to test him again in the next couple of weeks and if he’s OK, we might breed maybe 20 mares here in New Jersey and race him as well. He’s been back [in my barn] a week now. I don’t think he has to step up much to be competitive with those Open horses. We’ll just see how it works out. He’s very easy to be around. I’m looking forward to racing him.”
(USTA)