Capuano, Karamanos win Pimlico titles

Trainer Dale Capuano saddled two more winners on Saturday's closing-day card at Pimlico, including the final race of the 20-day spring meet, to dethrone four-time defending champion Scott Lake.

Capuano, 47, earned his 31st training title in Maryland by winning 11 races, three more than Lake. Capuano had previously finished as Pimlico's leading trainer nine times during a 10-year span between 1996 and 2005.

"Pimlico has always been good to us," Capuano said. "It just seems the horses are ready to run once racing shifts to Pimlico. I am disappointed it is such a short meet but it is good to win another title. It has been a while."

Horacio Karamanos won a tight four-way race for leading rider. Karamanos, 36, who returned to Maryland in March after riding for nearly 18 months in his native Argentina, won 11 races at Pimlico, one more than Sheldon Russell, Julian Pimentel, and Eric Camacho.

"I am so happy," said Karamanos, a three-time leading rider at Laurel Park. "I have had a lot of seconds and thirds too, so my horses ran well. I had been gone for a year and a half so it took time to regain business. We are getting on good horses again and I expect to have a good meet at Colonial."

Live racing in the region shifts to Colonial Downs in Virginia on Saturday for an eight-week meeting that continues through July 21.

PTK LLC topped the owner standings by winning with 6 of 19 starters, all with trainer Dane Kobiskie.

American Victory ($6), ridden by Travis Dunkelberger for trainer Rodney Jenkins, rallied from far back to win the closing-day feature, the $50,000 Shine Again Stakes for Maryland-breds, by 2 1/4 lengths.