Alagna trainees sweep Crown 2CP elims

Tony Alagna-trained horses swept the two eliminations of the Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt Pace Friday night at Woodbine, with one being expected and the other a surprise. Captaintreacherous rolled to his eighth straight victory with a 1:50 effort in the first elimination at odds of 1-9, while Wake Up Peter woke up the bettors in the second elim with a 1:51.1 score at odds of 13-1.

 

Another Alagna-trained horse almost played a huge role in the first elimination as he almost took out his stablemate Captaintreacherous down the backside. Driver Tim Tetrick got away fourth with Captaintreacherous as the John Campbell-driven Dress The Part took the field to an opening quarter of :26.3, followed by Rockin Amadeus and the Alagna trainee Emeritus Maximus. Emeritus Maximus made a sudden break and driver Andy Miller veered to the inside as Tetrick worked his way around and then eventually up to take the lead past the :55.3 half.

 

From there it was no contest as Captaintreacherous reached three-quarters in 1:23.3 and then closed out the mile with a final quarter of :26.2 as he crossed the wire 3 1/2 lengths in front of Vegas Vacation, who ranged up first-over in the final turn for driver Scott Zeron to no avail. Rockin Amadeus held for third, with Dress The Part and Twilight Bonfire also advancing to the $600,000 final on Oct. 27.

 

After finishing second by a neck in his career debut, Captaintreacherous has been perfect in eight starts. The son of Somebeachsomewhere is owned by Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Joe Sbrocco and White Birch Farm.

 

In the second elim, Zeron rallied Wake Up Peter from sixth at the half to rush past the competition in deep stretch. There was some early give and take for the lead between Fool Me Once and favorite Apprentice Hanover but it was the latter at odds of 3-5 who led the field into the homestretch after a moderate half of :56 and three quarters in 1:24.2.

 

Jody Jamieson kept after Apprentice Hanover down the lane but Zeron, who had worked his way up second-over in the final turn but was still fifth in midstretch, was able to angle to the outside and then rush to the wire first. Apprentice Hanover settled for second, followed by Captive Audience, Urbanite Hanover and Fool Me Once, respectively.

 

The career-best win was just the second in eight starts for Wake Up Peter, a son of Rocknroll Hanover. The colt is owned by Alagna Racing, Eagles Soar Partners, Andy Willinger and Wake Up Peter Partners.

 

"We've been high on this colt all along," Alagna said afterward. "He had a breathing issue early and we've addressed that. I told Scott before the race that 'the horse is as sharp as he could be and I think he'll put on a good show.'"

 

Following the race, Alagna chose posts three and four for Captaintreacherous and Wake Up Peter, respectively, for the Crown final. Here is the field in post position order:

 

1. Dress The Part

2.Rockin Amadeus

3.Captaintreacherous

4. Wake Up Peter

5. Twilight Bonfire

6. Vegas Vacation

7. Apprentice Hanover

8. Fool Me Once

9. Urbanite Hanover

10. Captive Audience