'Captain' Goes Back To Work

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Published: October 30, 2013 05:17 pm EDT

Captaintreacherous added to his list of accomplishments when he won the Breeders Crown on Oct. 19, but his work is not finished.

The three-year-old colt pacer heads to Hoosier Park on Friday night to face a field of nine foes in the $252,000 Monument Circle. The race is part of a stakes-filled card that also includes the $286,500 Carl Erskine for three-year-old trotters and the $223,500 Hoosier Park Pacing Derby for older pacers.

Captaintreacherous, who has won 12 of 13 races this year and $1.88 million, is the 4-5 morning line favourite in the Monument Circle. He starts from post two for driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Tony Alagna.

Following the Monument Circle, if all goes well, Captaintreacherous will visit Balmoral Park for the American-National Stakes on Nov. 9 and then possibly challenge older rivals in the TVG Free for All Series final on Nov. 30 at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

“That’s the schedule, but we’re taking it one race at a time,” Alagna said. “If everything goes well, and he ships home good, we’ll decide what to do with that [TVG] race.

“Everything is in good shape right now. He had a light week after the Breeders Crown and then we trained him up and he headed to Chicago on Tuesday.”

Captaintreacherous won the $500,000 Breeders Crown for three-year-old male pacers 12 days ago at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs by a neck over Sunshine Beach. It was his sixth consecutive victory since losing by a nose to Sunshine Beach in the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine at Pocono Downs.

By winning the Breeders Crown, Captaintreacherous joined Gallo Blue Chip and Rocknroll Hanover as the only horses to win the Crown, North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace in the same year.

Last season, Captaintreacherous finished third in the Breeders Crown. It was his final start of a campaign in which he won eight of 10 races and was named U.S. Pacer of the Year.

“To get the Breeders Crown was nice for him, especially because he wasn’t able to win at [age] two,” Alagna said. “That was a tough loss for us at the end of the year. It was nice to see him put together two incredible performances in this year’s Breeders Crown [elimination and final].”

Captaintreacherous’ other wins this year include the Max C. Hempt Memorial, Cane Pace and divisions of the Tattersalls Pace and Bluegrass Series. He also won a $52,000 Invitational for three-year-old pacers at Hoosier Park on Sept. 21.

“That was probably the most pressure I felt all year because he was supposed to go out there and win,” Alagna said. “But with every start there is some kind of pressure. It’s a good pressure, though.”

Captaintreacherous is the No. 2-ranked horse in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Top 10, behind three-year-old filly trotter Bee A Magician.

The Monument Circle includes two other horses that competed in the Breeders Crown: Beach Memories, who was fourth, and Apprentice Hanover, who finished sixth.

The field is listed below in post position order with listed drivers and trainers:

1. Up Up And Out, Marcus Miller, Erv Miller
2. Captaintreacherous, Tim Tetrick, Tony Alagna
3. Emeritus Maximus, Doug McNair, Alagna
4. Dedis Dragon, Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke
5. Apprentice Hanover, Jody Jamieson, Ben Wallace
6. That Friske Feelin, Brett Miller, Burke
7. The Pan Poobah, Ricky Macomber Jr., Burke
8. Fool Me Once, Ron Pierce, Mark Austin
9. Our Dragon King, Peter Wrenn, Dirk Simpson
10. Beach Memories, David Miller, Brian Brown

Note: Beach Memories starts from the second tier.


This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.

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