Meadowlands: El Rey is king in Governor's Cup final

Tony Alagna pupil El Rey burst onto the scene last week with a second-place finish in the Governor's Cup elimination and affirmed his kingship with a catapulting move over his peers to take the $430,000 Governor's Cup final, a race for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings, on Saturday night (Nov. 26) at the Meadowlands.

Combustion powered to the lead through a 26 3/5 first quarter to pocket fellow elimination winner Stormalong to the backstretch. Ammo then shot from fourth and grabbed the lead before a 54 second half. The tempo remained steady to three-quarters as Ammo rolled by the pole in 1:21 4/5 with Combustion looming from the pocket and Cant Stop Lou in behind.

Ammo remained resolute towards the pylons while facing Combustion's challenge to the eighth pole. Combustion ground enough into Ammo to take a narrow lead in the lane while driver Scott Zeron emerged from the backfield with El Rey. Revved and ready to roll, El Rey soared over his competitors to defeat Combustion by a neck in a 1:49 2/5 mile. Ammo settled for third and Cant Stop Lou took fourth.

"The pace was really hot up front, and my horse just has an amazing explosive burst down the lane," Scott Zeron said after the race. "I knew, middle of the last turn, he was still really on the bit and ready to get at it, and that’s when I was most confident."

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El Rey has now won five races from 12 starts and deposited to an account worth $284,400. Brittany Farms LLC. and El Rey Racing own the son of Captaintreacherous who paid $5.20 to win.

"We were waiting for the light to go on, and he did that a couple starts ago. Since then, Tony's got him on the right path and we're excited," said co-owner Steve Head of El Rey, who was entered and then pulled from the Harrisburg Mixed Sale earlier in November. "We knew he had a lot of talent, a lot of speed early. But he had to put it all together, and Tony and the team got it."