{"id":67330,"date":"2025-08-21T23:54:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T03:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=67330"},"modified":"2025-08-21T23:54:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T03:54:31","slug":"genesee-county-captain-albano-desperate-man-featured-in-100000-kane-memorial-at-batavia-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/08\/21\/genesee-county-captain-albano-desperate-man-featured-in-100000-kane-memorial-at-batavia-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Captain Albano, Desperate Man featured in $100,000 Kane Memorial at Batavia Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batavia, NY — On Saturday (Aug. 23), Batavia Downs will present the 19th<\/sup> Robert J. Kane Memorial Invitational Pace. The race is named in honor of the former chairman of the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corporation (WROTB) and his vision for a defunct racetrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1998, Kane saw the opportunity for WROTB to keep harness racing alive in Western New York and convinced the group to purchase the shuttered Batavia Downs.  He then worked diligently for four years to obtain a racing license from the state of New York in order to re-open the track in 2002. Since that time, the track and facilities has seen numerous investments and upgrades by WROTB to help improve the racing product and as a result, the sport is currently thriving at the area\u2019s premier entertainment destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the efforts of Race Secretary Tom Agosti, the 2025 edition of this signature event will have one of the most impressive groups of Open-class pacing horses ever assembled in Genesee County and is led by two millionaires named Captain Albano and Desperate Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he\u2019s only four, Captain Albano has already had a storied career. He was named the United States Harness Writers Dan Patch 2-year-old Pacer of the Year in 2023 after winning seven out of nine starts and pacing the fastest 2-year-old mile (by a male) of the season in 1:49.2. Then he came back the following year and was named the 3-year-old Dan Patch Pacer of the Year in 2024, making him only the sixth male pacer this century to receive a Dan Patch Award at ages two and three, joining Perfect Sting, Tall Dark Stranger, Somebeachsomewhere, Captaintreacherous and Bettors Delight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his sophomore year Captain Albano won 12 of 18 races, including 10 of his final 13 of the season, with stake victories in the Adios and Little Brown Jug while earning $1.125 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After it looked like he would leave the racing ranks in lieu of stud duty, it was decided to return him to the track this year and he hasn\u2019t let anyone down. So far he has won two out of his six starts and taken a mark of 1:48.2 at Pocono Downs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the majority of his races being contested over larger ovals, Captain Albano is undefeated over a half-mile track. Those starts came in the Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio where he won his $50,000 elimination in 1:49.2 and then came back two hours later to win the $525,000 final in 1:50.1.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Todd McCarthy has driven Captain Albano in 31 of his 33 lifetime starts, Tyler Buter, who will drive him Saturday, did sit behind him once as a 2-year-old and finished second in a leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. This will be Captain Albano\u2019s first start ever at Batavia Downs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his career, Captain Albano is 21 out of 33 with $1,715,694 million made and a lifetime mark of 1:48.1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Albano has drawn post four for trainer Noel Daley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 7-year-old Desperate Man is a bit more tenured than Captain Albano, and he comes into this race as the defending champion after winning the 2024 Kane in 1:51.3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desperate Man earned $162,747 as a 2-year-old, mainly in the Ontario Sire Stakes and then came back at three and was a dominant fixture on that circuit again. But he also won the $790,000 North America Cup where he beat Bulldog Hanover, Perfect Sting and Abuckabett Hanover. Since that season, as an aged gelding has won a litany of Invitationals and Opens across North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His fastest win time over a half was 1:50.3 at Grand River in 2023, but he was race-timed in 1:48.3 at Northfield in June of this year while finishing second to Ken Hanover in the Battle Of Lake Erie after cutting the mile. That race was a world record as Ken Hanover became the fastest older pacing stallion ever over a half-mile track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All tallied, Desperate Man has won 32 of 83 starts with $1,754,279 million in purses earned and his best career mile rate was 1:48.2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desperate Man will have his regular reinsman Matt Kakaley aboard and will start from post three for trainer Travis Alexander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buzzsaw Russ is another horse that started in the Kane last year, but made a break at three-quarters while making a big move on the outside. This 5-year-old was an Indiana Sire Stake star for two years and currently shows earnings of $730,214 in only three and a half seasons of racing. After an almost two month hiatus that started in May, Buzzsaw Russ has come back razor sharp with a win in 1:50 flat including a :25.4 kicker and two thirds where he was race timed in 1:49 and 1:49.1 at Hoosier. The horse has also only raced over a half twice. Besides his Batavia start, he finished third at Northfield in the 2023 Milstien and was race timed in 1:49. Buzzsaw Russ has 13 lifetime wins and a mark of 1:48.3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Bartlett, who is far and away Batavia Downs leading percentage driver with a .842 UDR while winning 74% of the time, will drive Buzzsaw Russ from post two for trainer Melissa Essig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his last two finishes, Birthday is not a horse to be overlooked. In his start at Hoosier on August 8, he got away second and in perfect position. However that soon became a nightmare because from the half to home, he was completely locked in with absolutely no room to make a move and finished with pace. Last week at Pocono he got away sixth at the half and ended up chasing a :53.1 final half that gave him little opportunity to gain on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIrthday is a Meadows Open star and has won there this year in 1:47.4 and that mile makes him the fourth fastest pacer of 2025 regardless of age or gender. He\u2019s a 27 time winner and has earnings of $648,814 and is a major player in this field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron Burke has Jim Morrill Jr. aboard and Birthday will start from post five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another horse overlooked by the morning line is Blazing Home N who is coming in as one of the hottest contestants in this group. This recent New Zealand import competed in the MGM Borgotta at Yonkers this spring with only luke-warm results. But he soon found that Plainridge Park was his favorite track after posting a win and four seconds there over the summer. Two of the seconds were in July and August and were race timed in 1:49.2 and 1:49.3. The win was his last start and it was an impressive outing in a come from behind victory timed in 1:50 flat. The start right before that at Hoosier was an even bigger eye-opener when Blazing Home N came from eighth at three-quarters to win by 1-1\/4 lengths in 1:49 flat, beating both Buzzsaw Russ and Birthday in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Stalbaum will drive his trainee and has drawn post six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the entire field for the $100,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Invitational Pace which will go as race 10 with an estimated post time of 9 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Livonjaxandqueens – Drew Monti\/James Rothfuss<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Buzzsaw Russ – Jason Bartlett\/Melissa Essig<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 Desperate Man – Matt Kakaley\/Travis Alexander<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 Captain Albano – Tyler Buter\/Noel Daley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 Birthday – Jim Morrill Jr.\/Ron Burke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 Blazing Home N – Larry Stalbaum\/Larry Stalbaum<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 Typhoon Banner N – Brett Beckwith\/Joe Bongiorno<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 Natameri – Kevin Cummings\/Jessica Okusko<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday\u2019s card will also feature two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes. The 3-year-old trotting fillies will go for $121,800 and the 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters will compete for $114,900.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post time for the first race of the card with a total purse value of $468,300 is at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs Batavia, NY — On Saturday (Aug. 23), Batavia Downs will present the 19th Robert J. Kane Memorial Invitational Pace. The race is named in honor of the former chairman of the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corporation (WROTB) and his vision for a defunct racetrack. In \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,23],"tags":[376],"class_list":["post-67330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batavia","category-genesee-county","tag-batavia-downs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-hvY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35405,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/23\/genesee-county-75000-kane-memorial-field-drawn-for-batavia-friday\/","url_meta":{"origin":67330,"position":0},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/$75,000 Kane Memorial field drawn for Batavia Friday","author":"aka","date":"August 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs Batavia, NY \u2014 This Friday (Aug. 26) Batavia Downs will present a special card of live racing that will feature both colt and filly 3-year-old divisions of New York Sire Stake trotters who will compete for $232,700 in purses. But the card will also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45015,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/26\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-announces-visit-from-a-budweiser-clydesdale-on-kane-memorial-night\/","url_meta":{"origin":67330,"position":1},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs announces visit from a Budweiser Clydesdale on Kane Memorial Night","author":"aka","date":"July 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On site visit will be August 26th\u00a0from 2-4pm Press release BATAVIA \u2013 Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced that one of the famous and iconic Budweiser Clydesdales will be making an appearance at Batavia Downs on Saturday, August 26th\u00a0from 2-4pm.\u00a0 A night of live harness racing, including the Kane\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":77304,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/20\/genesee-county-live-harness-racing-returns-to-batavia-downs-on-wednesday\/","url_meta":{"origin":67330,"position":2},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Live harness racing returns to\u00a0Batavia Downs\u00a0on Wednesday","author":"aka","date":"July 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs (Photo courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery) Batavia, NY ---\u00a0All the preparations are complete and the anticipation to see the horses go behind the gate is high as live harness racing is set to return to Genesee County on Wednesday, July 22 when Batavia Downs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Behind-The-Gate-for-2026.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Behind-The-Gate-for-2026.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Behind-The-Gate-for-2026.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Behind-The-Gate-for-2026.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Behind-The-Gate-for-2026.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30750,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2022\/02\/21\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-gm-haight-to-retire-in-march\/","url_meta":{"origin":67330,"position":3},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs GM Haight to retire in March","author":"aka","date":"February 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"File photo\/July 30, 2020 By Tim Bojarski, president, Upstate New York USHWA\u00a0 Batavia, NY --- Todd Haight, the long time general manager and director of live racing at Batavia Downs, has announced that he will retire from that position at Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation effective March 15. \"I would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/still-Todd-Height.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/still-Todd-Height.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/still-Todd-Height.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/still-Todd-Height.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/still-Todd-Height.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35555,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/26\/genesee-county-american-dealer-n-breaks-all-time-track-record-in-75000-kane-memorial-at-batavia-downs\/","url_meta":{"origin":67330,"position":4},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/American Dealer N breaks all-time track record in $75,000 Kane Memorial at Batavia Downs","author":"aka","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs (Photos courtesy of Wendy J. 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