Captaintreacherous returns to work Saturday night when he faces eight foes in the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine for three-year-old pacers at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Ranked No. 1 in harness racing’s current Top 10 poll, Captaintreacherous is a perfect six-for-six this season with his victories including the North America Cup, Meadowlands Pace and Max C. Hempt Memorial. He has not raced since capturing the Meadowlands Pace on July 13.
Captaintreacherous prepped for the Battle of the Brandywine with a 1:50.1 qualifier win on Aug. 2 at the Meadowlands. He paced the final quarter-mile in :25.4 and won by 15-1/4 lengths with regular driver Tim Tetrick at the lines.
“He’s really good,” trainer Tony Alagna said. “I’m very happy with the way he qualified at the Meadowlands two weeks ago and he trained back good on Saturday here at Gaitway [Farm training center]. I’m going to blow him out a couple easy trips [Wednesday] and he should be good to go.”
Captaintreacherous was named 2012 U.S. Pacer of the Year after winning eight of 10 races, including the million-dollar Metro Pace. He is one of only three horses to win the Metro, North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace, joining Presidential Ball and Rocknroll Hanover on the list.
Owned by the Captaintreacherous Racing group, the “Captain” is the 5-2 morning line favourite in the Battle of the Brandywine, where he starts from post four. In the Hempt Memorial, also held at Pocono Downs, Captaintreacherous started from post nine – the outermost post – and raced on the outside the entire mile, including three-wide on both the first and last turns.
The Battle of the Brandywine field also includes Meadowlands Pace runner-up Odds On Equuleus, who starts from post eight, and Meadowlands Pace third-place finisher Sunshine Beach, who begins from post two. Twilight Bonfire, who was second in the North America Cup, starts from post six.
“Based on what he’s accomplished against those other horses he’s definitely the horse to beat all the time at this stage,” Alagna said. “We’re hoping we did the right thing by giving him a little layoff and freshening him up for the rest of the year. He put on about 75 pounds and he couldn’t be any fresher, any sharper.
“He really looks good condition wise. We’re hoping that we did the right thing, and by the way he acts I believe we did.”
Captaintreacherous has won $1.13 million this year and $2.04 million for his career. Alagna said the horse’s accomplishments thus far have taken off a lot of pressure for the remainder of the season.
“At this point we feel like we’ve won the North America Cup, the Meadowlands Pace and the Hempt -- those are three huge accomplishments for a three-year-old pacing colt,” Alagna said. “If he can continue the rest of the year and rack up some more stakes wins that’s what we’re looking for as far as him being a stallion someday.”
Alagna considered sending Captaintreacherous into another qualifier last week, but decided against it after the colt’s strong performance 12 days ago at the Meadowlands.
“He got home in :25.4 that day and that’s a big quarter for him because he’s not normally a sprinter,” Alagna said. “He’s very sharp right now.”
Here is a look at the field for the Battle of the Brandywine with listed drivers and trainers (and morning line odds):
1. Lonewolf Currier, John Campbell, Kevin McDermott (5-1)
2. Sunshine Beach, Brian Sears, Mark Steacy (7-2)
3. Mach It So, Yannick Gingras, P.J. Fraley (4-1)
4. Captaintreacherous, Tim Tetrick, Tony Alagna (5-2)
5. Wake Up Peter, Ron Pierce, Alagna (12-1)
6. Twilight Bonfire, David Miller, Danny Collins (15-1)
7. Beach Memories, Corey Callahan, Brian Brown (20-1)
8. Odds On Equuleus, Andy Miller, Robin Schadt (8-1)
9. Some Kinda Beach, Matt Kakaley, Erv Miller (6-1)
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.