Hightstown, NJ — After each winning one of the year’s final Triple Crown races in their most recent starts for trainer Noel Daley, trotter Sig Sauer and pacer Captain Albano are ready for their respective Breeders Crown eliminations Saturday at The Meadowlands.
Sig Sauer captured the Kentucky Futurity on Oct. 6 at Lexington’s Red Mile, winning by three-quarters of a length in 1:49.3 despite a parked-out journey. Only one 3-year-old trotter in history has gone faster, Six Pack with a 1:49.1 mile in Lexington in 2018.
On Saturday, Sig Sauer will leave from post one with driver Andy McCarthy in the first of two $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations for 3-year-old male trotters at The Meadowlands. He is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in a field of eight. The top-five finishers from each elim will advance to the $600,000 final Oct. 26 at The Big M.
The Meadowlands will host all the Breeders Crown eliminations for horses ages 3 and up Saturday, with action beginning at 6:20 p.m. (EDT). The elims for 2-year-olds will be contested Friday afternoon. First-race post time Friday is 12:30 p.m.
“He was awesome (in the Futurity),” Daley said about Sig Sauer. “We’ve always thought he was a very good horse. You just let him do his own talking. Whenever he’s having a good day, he’s the one they’ve got to beat. And he had a good day that day, that was for sure. There was nothing lucky about his win, let’s put it that way.
“The time didn’t shock me because the weather was perfect the last week in Lexington and everything was going quick. He doesn’t get tired; he’s a big, strong fella. He’d already gone (1):50 at The Meadowlands, so to go (1):49.3 down there was not too much of a stretch. Still, it’s nice to do it.”
For the year, Sig Sauer has won four of eight races and earned $569,812. The son of Muscle Hill-Sigilwig has eight lifetime victories in 13 starts, banking $849,312.
Kentucky Futurity runner-up Amazing Catch is the 3-1 second choice in the first Breeders Crown elim for the sophomore male trotters. T C I is next, at 7-2. In the second elim, Hambletonian champ Karl is the 8-5 favorite followed by Highland Kismet, the Hambletonian runner-up, at 9-5.
“On paper, (Sig Sauer) has got the easier of the two divisions,” Daley said. “I did take off his shoes for the first time for the Futurity. I plan on doing that again in the final of the Breeders Crown, but he’ll have shoes on this week.”
Captain Albano won the Little Brown Jug on Sept. 19 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in central Ohio, sweeping his elimination and the final. Daley considered sending the colt to the Tattersalls Pace on Oct. 6 at the Red Mile, but ultimately skipped the Lexington meet to give his horse more time to relax.
On Saturday, he will leave from post three in the first of two $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations for 3-year-old male pacers. Todd McCarthy will be in the sulky. Captain Albano is the 6-5 morning-line favorite. He heads to the race off a 1:51.3 qualifier on Oct. 10 at The Meadowlands.
“He came out of (the Little Brown Jug) great,” said Daley, who has a total of eight horses competing in Breeders Crown elims this weekend. “We decided we would try to focus on winning the Breeders Crown rather than go to Kentucky with him. I’m glad I did. He’s bright as a button. I was real happy with his qualifier and he’s done well since then. I’m happy with where we’re at.”
Captain Albano has hit the board in 11 of 13 races this season, winning eight and earning $797,043. In addition to the Jug, his victories include the Adios and Max C. Hempt Memorial. The son of Captaintreacherous-Angelou has won six of his past seven starts, with the only setback coming when he made an uncharacteristic break on the last turn of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs.
“He really hasn’t had bad races, he’s just had bad luck a few times,” Daley said referring to a four-race winless streak early in the season. “He’s not unbeatable by any means, but he’s the one they’ve got to beat on his last couple of performances.”
Captain Albano, a Dan Patch Award winner in 2023, has won 15 of 22 lifetime races and earned $1.24 million.
The morning-line favorite at 8-5 in the second Breeders Crown elim for the 3-year-old male pacers is Mirage Hanover, who won a division of the Tattersalls Pace on Oct. 6 at the Red Mile and finished second in the Little Brown Jug. North America Cup winner Nijinsky, fresh off a victory in his Ontario Sire Stakes final, is the 5-2 second choice.
For Saturday’s complete Meadowlands entries, click here. For free programs, visit the track’s website here.