by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — With an undefeated record this year and two major stakes triumphs already to his credit, Captaintreacherous is the horse to beat in Saturday’s $635,750 Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-old pacers.

But after watching Captaintreacherous rally in the late stages to win both the North America Cup and Hempt Memorial, rival trainers and drivers wonder if they can.

“I don’t know, he seems invincible,” said trainer Robin Schadt, whose colt Odds On Equuleus is the 4-1 third choice on the Meadowlands Pace morning line. “He’s really a tough horse. He looks like he’s vulnerable and going to get beat and the next thing you know he just digs in and wins. That’s what great horses are made of.”

New Image Media photo

North America Cup champion Captaintreacherous will be looking to add the Meadowlands Pace to his resume.

David Miller agrees. Miller drives Meadowlands Pace finalist Twilight Bonfire, who finished second to Captaintreacherous in the $980,000 North America Cup on June 15 at Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario.

“Captaintreacherous, he’s just a beast of a horse,” Miller said. “He’s got that desire to get to the wire. I tell you what, few horses have that. He fights to get his head in front. That’s something special.”

Last season, Captaintreacherous won eight of 10 starts, earned $918,253 and became the first 2-year-old in 25 years to be named Pacer of the Year. This year he is undefeated in five races, with $808,293 in purses. He won the $500,000 Hempt Memorial on June 29 at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs despite starting from the outermost post and racing on the outside the entire mile, including three wide on both the first and last turns.

Captaintreacherous, trained by Tony Alagna and driven by Tim Tetrick for the Captaintreacherous Racing ownership group, received a bye into the Meadowlands Pace final based on seasonal earnings. He drew post five for the final and is the 6-5 favorite on the morning line.

Also receiving byes were Alagna-trained Wake Up Peter and Twilight Bonfire. Wake Up Peter is winless in six races this year but has earned $156,225 thanks to third-place finishes in the North America Cup and New Jersey Sire Stakes championship. Twilight Bonfire has two wins in five starts and $319,336 this season for trainer Danny Collins and owner Bob Key.

Sunshine Beach, trained by Mark Steacy and driven by George Brennan, last Saturday won an elimination to determine the remainder of the 10-horse Meadowlands Pace field. He defeated Odds On Equuleus by a neck in 1:48 and will start the final from post two. He is 3-1 on the morning line.

“Captaintreacherous is a great horse and pretty much refuses to get beat,” Steacy said. “It’s going to be really hard to beat him, but right now we’re probably going in as second favorite and it’s a horserace. Anything can happen.”

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Sunshine Beach won the Meadowlands Pace elimination in a time of 1:48.

Sunshine Beach has won four of six starts this year, including a division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes at Mohawk. Last season he won once in six starts for Canadian owners Hudson Standardbred Stable, Conrad Leber and Diane Bertrand.

Following Sunshine Beach and Odds On Equuleus into the final from the elim were Resistance Futile, Rockin Amadeus, Beach Memories, Johny Rock and Sir Cary’s Z Tam.

“I think the final is going to be action packed,” Miller said. “It’s going to be a good race. Odds On Equuleus and Sunshine Beach are very sharp right now.”

Odds On Equuleus, who battled sickness and foot troubles earlier this year and is winless in four starts this season, is one of the two horses to beat Captaintreacherous. Odds On Equuleus defeated Captaintreacherous, making his career debut, by a neck at the Meadowlands on July 20, 2012.

The other horse to knock off Captaintreacherous is Rockin Amadeus, who sprung his upset in last October’s Breeders Crown at Woodbine Racetrack. Captaintreacherous finished third in the Breeders Crown, with Wake Up Peter getting the second spot.

“I think he can beat the Captain on his best night,” said Yannick Gingras, who drove Rockin Amadeus in the Breeders Crown as well as in his fourth place finish in the Meadowlands Pace elim. “No question about that. The bias worked for us that night, the front end was dead. I got away third and he got away fourth. I didn’t really like my spot, but once Tim (Tetrick) made his move early in the race, I liked it then. It put me first over, which was the winning spot at the time. We were able to grind him down. My horse is better if you don’t use him too much early.”

Following is the field for the Meadowlands Pace final with listed drivers and trainers: 1. Odds On Equuleus, John Campbell, Robin Schadt; 2. Sunshine Beach, George Brennan, Mark Steacy; 3. Resistance Futile, Jody Jamieson, Blair Burgess; 4. Twilight Bonfire, David Miller, Danny Collins; 5. Captaintreacherous, Tim Tetrick, Tony Alagna; 6. Sir Cary’s Z Tam, Patrick Lachance, Lachance; 7. Johny Rock, Andy Miller, John Butenschoen; 8. Beach Memories, Corey Callahan, Brian Brown; 9. Wake Up Peter, Ron Pierce, Alagna; 10. Rockin Amadeus, Pierce, Jimmy Takter.