Superstar pacer Captaintreacherous retired to stud

HANOVER, Pa. - Two-time harness racing Pacer of the Year Captaintreacherous has been retired, trainer Tony Alagna said Monday.

A 4-year-old, Captaintreacherous finishes his career with 23 wins in 33 races and $3.14 million in purses. His earnings rank No. 12 among all pacers in history.

This season, Captaintreacherous won two of seven starts. He was scratched from the Canadian Pacing Derby in August.

"Captain just hasn't been himself for the last several weeks," Alagna said. "He's been fighting a low respiratory bug and we just haven't been able to overcome it. Rather than take the chance of doing irreparable harm to this great horse, I think it would be wise for everybody concerned to have him retired at Hanover Shoe Farms.

"I have no doubts that he is destined to become a great sire. I very much look forward to the day when I will be looking at, buying and training his babies."

At age 2, Captaintreacherous won eight of 10 starts and became the first 2-year-old in 25 years to receive the Dan Patch Award for Pacer of the Year. Last season, Captaintreacherous won 13 of 16 races and $2.05 million on his way to his second Pacer of the Year honor.

Captaintreacherous, who will stand as a stallion at Hanover Shoe Farms in 2015, became the first horse to win back-to-back Pacer of the Year honors since Jenna's Beach Boy in 1995-96 and joined Niatross as the only horses to accomplish the feat at ages 2 and 3 since the award was first given in 1970. Pacer Bret Hanover was honored at ages 2, 3 and 4 with the Horse of the Year Award from 1964-66.

An official retirement ceremony will be held Oct. 2 at The Red Mile in Lexington.