Captain Albano holding on with Wish You Well as runner-up
By Evan Pattak, for the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association “Horsemen Helping Horsemen” Photos Captain Albano by Chris Gooden
Captain Albano, the 1-2 favorite, controlled the fractions for Todd McCarthy but needed every bit of his speed and moxie to hold off Wish You Well and David Miller in the Lightning Lane and win Saturday’s (July 27) $350,000 final of the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids, for 3-year-old colts and geldings, at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. Noel Daley trains the son of Captaintreacherous-Angelou, who now boasts a career bankroll of $752,915, for Patricia Stable, L.A. Express Stable, Sjoblom Racing and Michael Dolan.
Last year’s Dan Patch Award winner for freshman males as well as Pennsylvania’s champion, Captain Albano threw down a 1:21.2 first three-quarters, thwarting a number of challenges and abortive moves along the way. But when the dust settled as the field turned for home, the outcome came down to the two elimination winners – Captain Albano trying to hold firm and Wish You Well pouring through a suddenly available Lightning Lane. Captain Albano prevailed by a neck in 1:49.2, matching his career best. Timeisonmyside, who reached the final as a 47-1 long shot in his elimination, ducked from the gate but nicely weaved his way through traffic to earn third. Noblesville was fourth.
McCarthy indicated he didn’t think his horse was in danger of coming up short. ”I’ll be honest with you;’ he said. “He was a little tired, it was a real big mile. But when I heard David coming late, I asked him to go on, and he went that little bit more.”
For his part, Miller said the result might have been different had he found the Lightning Lane sooner. “I would like to have sat in the two-hole but I’m happy to be second;’ Miller said. “He raced great. He raced great both weeks here:’ It was the first Adios title for both McCarthy and Daley.
ADIOS NOTES: The Ron Burke stable, which has entered as many as 29 horses on Adios Days past, settled for 17 Saturday. “We’re slacking off;” joked the stable’s Kein Weimer. But the quality was there, as Burke collected a three-bagger. When he came up a neck short, Miller missed a chance to move into sole possession of second place on the Adios championships list. He’s currently in a six way tie for second with three titles. All-time leader John Campbell has eight, a mark that may never be matched.