Dover, DE — Little Brown Jug and Matron champion Captain Albano crossed the million-dollar threshold of his sophomore campaign with a decisive 1:49.1 score over Pepsi North America Cup winner Nijinsky in the $267,960 Progress Pace final, for 3-year-old male pacers, on Wednesday (Nov. 27) at Bally’s Dover.
Captain Albano, widest of three leavers at race’s outset, was rated in the two-path by driver Todd McCarthy as Captain Luke (driven by Scott Zeron) drilled a :25.1 first-quarter sprint with Nijinsky (Louis-Philippe Roy) in the pocket. Captain Albano pushed to the fore with a circuit to go and controlled middle splits of :54 and 1:21.4. After shrugging off a first-over challenge from Breeders Crown winner Mirage Hanover (Dexter Dunn), who advanced from fourth to offer mild pressure upon entering the far turn, Captain Albano sprinted away from the field at the eighth pole and won comfortably by 2-1/4 lengths.
Nijinsky rallied up the open stretch to nab Captain Luke for second.
Noel Daley trains Captain Albano, who concludes his racing career with $1,564,253 earned from 19 wins, three second-place finishes and three third-place finishes in 27 starts for Patricia Stable, L.A. Express Stable, Sjoblom Racing and Michael Dolan. The Captaintreacherous-Angelou colt will now embark on his breeding career at Blue Chip Farms, in New York.
Sent off the 3-5 favorite, Captain Albano paid $3.40 to win.