Albano flies home in Pegasus

Brereton C. Jones' homebred Albano suffered a terrible trip in the March 29

Louisiana Derby and subsequently bypassed other preps for the May 3 Kentucky

Derby in favor of readying for the summer season. The bay son of Istan returned

to action on Sunday at Monmouth Park and kicked off his summer campaign with a

dominant 6 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3, $148,500

Pegasus,

the traditional local prep for the Grade 1, $ 1 million Haskell Invitational on

July 27.

In front of a record Father's Day crowd of 29,262, Albano and jockey Kerwin

Clark settled in third off the quick early pace of :22 4/5 and :46 2/5 set by

Ring Weekend. Albano advanced outside of that rival nearing the turn and sailed

on past to take over through six furlongs in 1:11 2/5. From there, the Larry

Jones trainee drew off to romp in the 1 1/16-mile feature as the 6-5 favorite,

paying $4.60 when finishing up in a final time of 1:44 over the fast track.

"He's been training really well," Clark said. "Larry had him really ready for

this race. I knew they were going really quick early, because my horse has a lot

of natural speed and we couldn't keep up. Once I called upon him around the

turn, he really answered the question and pulled away impressively."

The rest of the field was spread out, with Encryption taking second by 6 1/4

lengths over Lynx, who in turn was up that same margin on Wildcatpleasures in

last. Ring Weekend was pulled up in the lane and walked off. Uncle Sigh and

Allstar were both withdrawn.

"It was impossible to escape the buzz throughout the

facility," said Bob Kulina, president of Darby Development LLC, operators of

Monmouth Park Racetrack. "It was an enthusiastic crowd that came early and

stayed late. The racing product today was outstanding, and our handle certainly

reflected it.

"Father's Day has traditionally been our second busiest day, only to the

Haskell. We've been fortunate to build this day into a great event that the fans

have truly embraced."

Albano certainly embraced the Pegasus in his first start back from a more

than two-month break. The Kentucky-bred ran third in his initial outing last

October at Churchill Downs before shipping to Fair Grounds in New Orleans to

spend the winter season. He broke his maiden at Fair Grounds in November and

captured his stakes bow in the Sugar Bowl before finishing second in the LeComte

to begin his three-year-old season.

Albano made just one more start before the Louisiana Derby, leading nearly

every step of the way in the Risen Star to just be caught on the wire when the

ill-fated Intense Holiday stuck his nose in front. With this successful return

to action he ran his line to 7-3-2-1 and has banked $308,100 in lifetime

earnings.

"We had no plan," Larry Jones said. "He (Clark) played it the way it came up. It sure looked awful good.

"The Haskell is our game plan, but we'll see how it goes. This horse races

pretty good fresh, so if we come to the Haskell this was his prep. We've had

quite a bit of success at Monmouth, so that's certainly the race we're looking

at."

Albano is out of the Fortunate Prospect mare Pocho's Dream Girl, who was a

Grade 1-placed multiple stakes winner on track. The mare has found just as much

success in the breeding shed, having also foaled Grade 2 hero Mark Valeski.

Albano's third dam is the Hail to Reason mare Silver True, who captured the

1966 Spinaway Stakes and would go on to produce dual Grade 1 victor and sire

Silver Buck.

This female family is also responsible for champion Silver Spoon as well as

Grade 1 heroes State Dinner and Banquet Table.

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