Batavia, NY — On Saturday (Aug. 23), Batavia Downs will present the 19th Robert J. Kane Memorial Invitational Pace.
Through the efforts of race secretary Tom Agosti, the 2025 edition of this signature event will have one of the most impressive groups of Open-class pacing horses ever assembled in Genesee County and is led by millionaires Captain Albano and Desperate Man.
Although he’s only 4 years old, Captain Albano has already had a storied career. He was named the United States Harness Writers Association’s Dan Patch 2-Year-Old Male Pacer of the Year in 2023 after winning seven out of nine starts and pacing the fastest mile of the season by a rookie male pacer in 1:49.2. He then came back the following year and was named the Dan Patch 3-Year-Old Male Pacer of the Year in 2024, making him only the sixth male pacer this century to receive a Dan Patch Award at ages 2 and 3, joining Perfect Sting, Tall Dark Stranger, Somebeachsomewhere, Captaintreacherous and Bettor’s Delight.
During his sophomore year, Captain Albano won 12 of 18 races, including 10 of his final 13 of the season, with stakes victories in the Adios and Little Brown Jug while earning $1.125 million.
After it looked like he would leave the racing ranks in lieu of stud duty, it was decided to return him to the track this year, and he hasn’t let anyone down. So far, he has won two out of his six starts and taken a mark of 1:48.2 at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
Despite the majority of his races being contested over larger ovals, Captain Albano is undefeated over a half-mile track. Those starts came in the Little Brown Jug, in Delaware, Ohio, where he won his $50,000 elimination in 1:49.2 and then came back two hours later to win the $525,000 final in 1:50.1.
Although Todd McCarthy has driven Captain Albano in 31 of his 33 lifetime starts, Tyler Buter, who will drive him Saturday, did sit behind him once as a 2-year-old and finished second in a leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. This will be Captain Albano’s first start ever at Batavia Downs.
For his career, Captain Albano is 21 out of 33 with $1,715,694 million made and a lifetime mark of 1:48.1.
Captain Albano has drawn post four for trainer Noel Daley.
The 7-year-old Desperate Man is a bit more tenured than Captain Albano, and he comes into this race as the defending champion after winning the 2024 Kane in 1:51.3.
Desperate Man earned $162,747 as a 2-year-old, mainly in the Ontario Sires Stakes, and then came back at 3 and was a dominant fixture on that circuit again. But he also won the $790,000 North America Cup, where he beat Bulldog Hanover, Perfect Sting and Abuckabett Hanover. Since that season, the gelding has won a litany of Invitationals and Opens across North America.
His fastest win time over a half-mile track was 1:50.3 at Grand River in 2023, but he was race-timed in 1:48.3 at Northfield in June of this year while finishing second to Ken Hanover in the Battle Of Lake Erie after cutting the mile. That race was a world record as Ken Hanover became the fastest older pacing stallion ever over a half-mile track.
All tallied, Desperate Man has won 32 of 83 starts with $1,754,279 million in purses earned and his best career mile rate was 1:48.2.
Desperate Man will have his regular reinsman, Matt Kakaley, aboard and will start from post three for trainer Travis Alexander.
Buzzsaw Russ is another horse that started in the Kane last year, but he made a break at the three-quarters while making a big move on the outside. This 5-year-old was an Indiana Sires Stake sstar for two years and currently shows earnings of $730,214 in only 3-1/2 seasons of racing. After an almost two-month hiatus that started in May, Buzzsaw Russ has come back razor sharp with a win in 1:50 flat, including a :25.4 kicker, and two thirds where he was race-timed in 1:49 and 1:49.1 at Hoosier. The horse has also only raced over a half-mile track twice. Besides his Batavia start, he finished third at Northfield in the 2023 Milstein and was race timed in 1:49. Buzzsaw Russ has 13 lifetime wins and a mark of 1:48.3.
Jason Bartlett, who is far and away Batavia Downs’ leading percentage driver with a .842 UDR while winning 74% of the time, will drive Buzzsaw Russ from post two for trainer Melissa Essig.
Despite his last two finishes, Birthday is not a horse to be overlooked. In his start at Hoosier on Aug. 8, he got away second and in perfect position. However that soon became a nightmare because from the half to home, he was completely locked in with absolutely no room to make a move and finished with pace. Last week at Pocono, he got away sixth at the half and ended up chasing a :53.1 final half that gave him little opportunity to gain on.
Birthday is a Meadows Open star and has won there this year in 1:47.4, which makes him the fourth-fastest pacer of 2025 regardless of age or gender. He’s a 27-time winner, has earnings of $648,814, and is a major player in this field.
Ron Burke has Jim Morrill Jr. aboard, and Birthday will start from post five.
Another horse overlooked by the morning line is Blazing Home N, who is coming in as one of the hottest contestants in this group. This recent New Zealand import competed in the MGM Borgata at Yonkers this spring with only lukewarm results. But he soon found that Plainridge Park was his favorite track after posting a win and four seconds there over the summer. Two of the seconds were in July and August and were race timed in 1:49.2 and 1:49.3. The win was his last start and it was an impressive outing in a come from behind victory timed in 1:50 flat. The start right before that at Hoosier was an even bigger eye-opener when Blazing Home N came from eighth at three-quarters to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:49 flat, beating both Buzzsaw Russ and Birthday in the process.
Larry Stalbaum will drive his trainee and has drawn post six.
Here is the entire field for the $100,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Invitational Pace, which will go as race 10 with an estimated post time of 9 p.m.
- Livonjaxandqueens (Drew Monti, James Rothfuss)
- Buzzsaw Russ (Jason Bartlett, Melissa Essig)
- Desperate Man (Matt Kakaley, Travis Alexander)
- Captain Albano (Tyler Buter, Noel Daley)
- Birthday (Jim Morrill Jr., Ron Burke)
- Blazing Home N (Larry Stalbaum, Larry Stalbaum)
- Typhoon Banner N (Brett Beckwith, Joe Bongiorno)
- Natameri (Kevin Cummings, Jessica Okusko)
The race is named in honor of the former chairman of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation (WROTB) and his vision to resurrect a defunct racetrack.
In 1998, Kane saw the opportunity for WROTB to keep harness racing alive in Western New York and convinced the group to purchase the shuttered Batavia Downs. He then worked diligently for four years to obtain a racing license from the state of New York in order to reopen the track in 2002. Since that time, the track and facilities have seen numerous investments and upgrades by WROTB to help improve the racing product. As a result, the sport is currently thriving at the area’s premier entertainment destination.
Saturday’s card will also feature two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes. The 3-year-old trotting fillies will go for $121,800, and the 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters will compete for $114,900.
First post for the card, which carries a total purse value of $468,300, is 6 p.m.