Dover, DE — Todd McCarthy captured both 3-year-old pacing divisions of the Matron Stakes, held Thursday (Nov. 7) at Bally’s Dover, teaming up with Little Brown Jug winner Captain Albano to take the $185,500 sophomore male pace and Kentucky Sire Stakes champion Direction in the $116,500 sophomore filly pace.
Captain Albano strode strongly to the fore from post five and controlled a :27 first quarter before yielding to 1-2 favorite and Breeders Crown champion Mirage Hanover (driven by Dexter Dunn), who brushed from the pocket, with a circuit to go. McCarthy bided his time with Captain Albano through middle splits of :53.4 and 1:21.2 before vacating the pocket midway on the far turn and collaring Mirage Hanover by a half length in 1:48.4. Huntingforchrome (Matt Kakaley) stalked the top pair throughout and narrowly held third over Captain Luke.
Noel Daley trains Captain Albano, a 17-time winner with $1,412,773 in the bank from 25 starts, for Patricia Stable, LA Express Stable, Sjoblom Racing and Michael Dolan. As the 6-5 second choice, Captain Albano paid $4.60 to win.
McCarthy’s Matron double kicked off when Direction turned a pocket trip behind two-time Breeders Crown champion My Girl EJ into a 1:50.2 win in the filly pace.
The Always B Miki-Blood Red filly pushed clear of Tarrific (Jason Bartlett) just beyond a :26.4 first quarter before yielding to My Girl EJ (Dunn) with a lap to go and stalking middle splits of :54.2 and 1:22.3. On the far turn, 3-5 favorite My Girl EJ faced intensifying pressure from the first-over Rocket Deo, setting up for Direction to pounce up the open stretch and prevail by a neck over Rocket Deo (Andy McCarthy). My Girl EJ was a game third.
Brett Pelling trains Direction, a Diamond Creek Racing homebred with 12 career wins and $570,221 in earnings from 20 starts. She paid $12.00 to win.
While Breeders Crown champs were upset in both Matron sophomore paces, Ryan Smith’s Allegiant completed the Crown-Matron double with a 1:51.1 win in the $146,100 sophomore filly trot and became a millionaire in the act.
Scott Zeron and Allegiant yielded to the pocket behind R Melina (Todd McCarthy) at the end of a :27.1 first quarter, retook at the bell to control :55.4 and 1:24.1 intermediate fractions, and then edged clear steadily through a :27 sprint home to win by 2-3/4 lengths. R Melina was an isolated second over She Shaq (Åke Svanstedt).
Linda Toscano trains Allegiant, now an 11-time winner with $1,006,222 in the bank from 26 starts. She paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite.
New York Sire Stakes champion Sir Pinocchio put his nose on the finish line first in the $152,800 sophomore male trot, inheriting the lead off the home turn when Highland Kismet broke stride and narrowly holding off Private Access for a 1:52.4 score.
In line to Jason Bartlett, Sir Pinocchio sat just off a contested :26.4 first quarter, was relegated to fourth with a lap to go when Highland Kismet (Tim Tetrick) cleared the lead, and began his first-over ascent at the :55 half-mile juncture. The Met’s Hall-Lady Cromwell gelding advanced steadily and ducked into the pocket up the backstretch as Highland Kismet rolled to three-quarters in 1:23. Midway on the far turn, Bartlett angled Sir Pinocchio out of the pocket and Highland Kismet broke stride, enabling Sir Pinocchio to inherit the lead turning for home. While all-out in the stretch, Sir Pinocchio found the winning post in time, fending off the late rally of Private Access (Louis-Philippe Roy) by a diminishing head in 1:52.4. Elhelpski (Peter Wrenn) finished a distant third.
Ed Hart trains Sir Pinocchio, now a 13-time winner with $689,329 earned from 24 starts, for owner-breeder Carolyn Atherton. He paid $5.40 to win.