Captain Groovy saw his bid to win all four of his Pennsylvania Stallion Series preliminaries for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings look good for much of the stretch at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Wednesday (Aug. 28) – until he got a bit tired late and was caught by 127-1 shot Keystone Dash in 1:53.4.
The Sweet Lou-Keystone Dawn colt Keystone Dash sprinted clear from post seven and had the lead well before the :27.1 first quarter for Andrew McCarthy. Captain Groovy, starting just to his outside, was patiently guided up to command in front of the stands, and his swift stepping past the middle poles of :56 and 1:25 seemed to have paid off as most of the competition had melted off by the far turn. However, Keystone Dash stayed connected in the pocket, eased out in the drive, and outpaced the Captain to the wire by a half length.
Far back in his first three races but better in a second-place finish against non-winners of two races in his last outing, Keystone Dash continued the improvement with the big upset for trainer Åke Svanstedt and the ownership of Åke Svanstedt Inc.
In another of the three $20,000 Stallion Series divisions, the Well Said-Bodacious Hanover colt Lake Charles took a lifetime best of 1:52, a clocking which matched the fastest posted by this group in either Sire Stakes or Stallion Series action to date. Jordan Stratton went to the lead with the victorious Ray Schnittker trainee by the :27.2 quarter, yielded to the brushing favourite Sandbetweenmytoes through a :56 half and 1:23.3 three-quarters, and then moved out for the drive and went by easily to win by three-quarters of a length. Lake Charles is undefeated in three Stallion Series starts for the ownership of Schnittker, Dr. John Egloff, Max J. Hempt and Steven Arnold.
The other Stallion Series division saw another colt remain undefeated in the series, as the Somebeachsomewhere-Temptation Hanover colt Patriot Nation made it two straight since dropping down from the Sire Stakes, lowering his mark to 1:53.4. Driver George Napolitano Jr. used his favoured front-end tactics, and after fractions of :27.4, :57.1 and 1:25.3, the youngster had more than enough left, defeating Hunter Hill by 2-1/4 lengths by trainer Andrew Harris and the partnership of Michael Goldberg and A Harris Racing LLC.
(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)