Harrah's Philadelphia: 3YO male pacers meet in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes

Captain Albano turned the tables on Gem Quality from their last meeting in the 2023 Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt Pace final by holding him off in the lane to win the last of a trio of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes contests for sophomore male pacers on Sunday afternoon at Harrah's Philadelphia. Rush In and Captain Skippy won the other two divisions.

With Todd McCarthy taking his regular seat behind him in his $51,617 flight, Captain Albano showed speed from post six but had to work past a 27 second opening quarter to wrestle the lead away from Gem Quality (Dexter Dunn), who had blasted to the engine from post five. Once in command, McCarthy was able to back down the half to 55 2/5 and the three-quarters in 1:23 as Maxim Hanover (Andy McCarthy) came with a first-over attack that stalled out on the last turn.

In the stretch Gem Quality dove to the passing lane in attempt to charge past Captain Albano, but Captain Albano's 26 4/5 final quarter got him to the wire three-quarters of a length to the good in a 1:49 4/5 mile. Its Saturday Night (Tim Tetrick) worked out a second-over trip behind Maxim Hanover and was able to get up for third in the lane.

Noel Daley trains Captain Albano, a Captaintreacherous colt bred by Fred Hertrich III, for owners Patricia Stable, L A Express & Sjoblom Inc. and Michael Dolan. Captain Albano has nine wins and two seconds in 11 outings, has pocketed $491,230 and paid $5.00 to win as the 3-2 second choice.

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Rush In scored his fourth straight victory and improved to three-for-three in the PA Sire Stakes this year with a 1:49 4/5 tally in the opening $51,657 section. Driver Scott Zeron swung Rush In to the outside from fourth on the first turn and moved to the front around Ivy Park (Yannick Gingras) beyond the 26 4/5 quarter. Rush In continued to show the way through middle-half panels of 55 and 1:22 2/5, and although Ivy Park tipped out and gained in the lane, it wasn't enough, as Rush In held sway by a length. Lyons Benjamin (Tetrick) collected third.

A colt by Heston Blue Chip, Rush In was bred by Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Bottom Line Racing LLC. and is owned by Let It Ride Stables Inc. in partnership with Odds On Racing, South Mountain Stables and Island Sun Stable. Unraced last year, the Linda Toscano trainee has a summary of 5-0-0 from seven tries to go with a bankroll of $86,173. He returned $2.60 to win as the 1-5 favorite.

The middle $51,257 split saw Dancin Champion (Gingras) carve out stations of 25 4/5, 54 2/5 and 1:22. Behind him, Captain Skippy (Dunn) began a first-over thrust out of third approaching three-quarters while Sir John B (A. McCarthy) and Southwind Celsius (Zeron) grabbed the cover. Zeron would swing 30-1 shot Southwind Celsius out wide early on the final bend and came with a big move that carried him into the lead coming off the turn, but Captain Skippy kept plugging away through the lane and was able to get back past him late for the win by three-quarters of a length in 1:50 2/5. Armada Hanover (Tetrick) checked in third.

Trainer Ake Svanstedt also co-owns Captain Skippy, a gelded son of Captaintreacherous bred by Angie Stiller, with partner Joe Sbrocco. Captain Skippy made his fourth trip to the winner's circle in his seventh trip behind the gate, has put away $85,051 and paid $7.20 to win as the 5-2 second choice.