Five years after returning to the U.S., trainer Noel Daley celebrated a special victory in Delaware, OH.

by Nicole Kraft

Noel Daley decided in 2018 he was done with American racing.

The winner of more than $61 million in purses and countless trophies, Daley decided it was time to head home to Australia to raise his son, Max, closer to family. So he let go of his dozens of horses, many of them champions, and closed up his training enterprise.

The exile lasted one year.

Daley returned to the U.S. in 2019 and had literally nothing with which to restart his stable — “I didn’t even have a screw eye.” But he still had his keen eye for horses and the training skills that had him ranked for years among harness racing’s best.

Five years later, those two factors carried Daley to the Little Brown Jug winner’s circle for the first time in his illustrious career.

Daley’s charge Captain Albano went off as the 3-5 favorite and romped to a 3½-length victory Thursday (Sept. 19) in the $625,000 Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, over Mirage Hanover and Legendary Hanover in 1:51.3.

“It’s great to see it done,” Daley said with a smile.

Captain Albano’s win also provided the first Jug for 31-year-old driver Todd McCarthy, a fellow Australian, who in four years of U.S. racing has already earned more than $32 million in purses.

Captain Albano was a surprise winner of the first elimination heat at 3-1, going straight to the lead off the gate from the rail and never looking back, romping in 1:49.2. Captain Luke, Mirage Hanover and Huntingforchrome also qualified for the final.

Daley admitted he was caught off guard seeing Captain Albano on the front so early.

“We pretty much decided we were taking him off the gate, but as soon as I saw him go I thought, ‘I guess [McCarthy] went to Plan B’,” Daley said. “He said everyone looked relaxed behind the gate, and they didn’t look like they were going to leave. It worked out pretty good for us.”

The heavy favorite, Nijinsky, who had only lost once in his 10 previous starts this year, made a move along the backside, but faded quickly.

Trainer Anthony Beaton said the pacer was making noise in his throat when he pulled up, but it would take post-race diagnostics to figure out exactly what happened.

“We’ll have the vets scope him later on and see what’s up there,” Beaton said. “Hopefully it’s nothing major, and we can get ready for the next go round.”

The No. 1 post also proved lucky for Captain’s Quarters and Jody Jamieson, who went gate-to-wire, winning by a head over Total Stranger in 1:51.3 at odds of 5-1.

Once again, the heavy favorite failed to impress, as Legendary Hanover was third by a length after a brutal trip. Sweet Beach Life also qualified.

Jamieson is no stranger to Delaware, having won in 2007 with Tell All. He hadn’t had a contender since finishing seventh in 2011 with Up The Credit.

“The whole thing about the Jug is you have to have a top colt, and I just haven’t had a top colt to get to race here,” he said. “It means a lot that I could be here, and it’s even more fun.”

When Captain Albano took to the track for the final, leaving from post 2 as the race favorite, Daley had simple instructions for his driver: “I said, ‘Just don’t get locked in. Just come out and sit outside.’ It worked out great.”

Captain’s Quarters took the lead in the final, and McCarthy stayed close behind in second through much of the mile, before sling-shotting around the final turn and leaving his rival in the fading September sun.

Captain Albano pulled clear and won going away, with McCarthy barely urging him on. Captain’s Quarters faded to seventh.

“It wasn’t until the top of the stretch that I sort of had to start making a plan to get going,” McCarthy said. “At that point, the pace wasn’t overly fast, and I was content to have him sit out there. The rest of it was pretty cool.”

McCarthy said winning for Daley made the race even more special.

“Noel’s been a great family friend of ours for a long time now and a huge supporter of mine from when I first got here, and he stuck with me all the way through,” he said. “I can’t thank him enough for that. For us, to be able to win a race like this today is really special.”

Before Thursday, Daley’s best Little Brown Jug finish was in 1997 when The Wiz finished second to Western Dreamer, although he and McCarthy’s brother, Andrew, had teamed in 2017 to win the Jugette with Caviart Ally.

Daley had bought Captain Albano (Captaintreacherous—Angelou) for $150,000 as a yearling from the 2022 Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction in Harrisburg, PA. He has now trained the horse — bred by Fred Hertrich III of All American Harnessbreds fame — to $1.24 million in earnings for owners Patricia Stable, L.A. Express Stable, Sjoblom Inc. and Michael Dolan.

“You like to come back and win good races,” he said. “You like to have good horses.

“It’s nice when things turn out.”

Ohio State Journalism students Sam Cipriani and Wil Steigerwald contributed to this article.

In other Jug Day action, as filed by Jay Wolf for the Little Brown Jug…

$90,000 MS VERSATILITY FINAL (OLDER MARE TROT)

The Norwegian-bred Nelsonbriteagle No benefited from early breaks in stride by HP Mama B (Louis Roy) and Tipsy Money (Yannick Gingras) and was able to coast to a 7¾-length romp in 1:52.3.

The 6-year-old Bold Eagle mare is co-owned by trainer Ake Svanstedt and breeder Nils Munkhaugen.

Adare Castle (James MacDonald) was second and Tactical Mounds (Scott Zeron) was third.

$92,150 OLD OAKEN BUCKET (3-YEAR-OLD COLT TROT)

Four Sixes (Gingras) minded his manners and went gate-to-wire in a lifetime best 1:54.

Vanguard (Todd McCarthy) and Elhelpski (Peter Wrenn) both overcame breaks in stride to secure the place and show spots.

The winning son of Six Pack is co-owned by William Hartt and trainer Melissa Beckwith.

$50,000 STANDARDBRED (2-YEAR-OLD COLT TROT)

Arrowhead Hanover received a patient drive from Anthony MacDonald and won the Standardbred by 1½ lengths over Abraham Hanover (Mike Wilder) and Lefties Righties (Zeron).

The International Moni gelding is owned by the fractional ownership group, The Stable.

The winning time of 1:55.2 was a new lifetime mark for Arrowhead Hanover who has now won $82,170 this season.

$47,000 STANDARDBRED (2-YEAR-OLD COLT PACE)

Dreamboat Hanover (Andy Miller) capitalized on an early quick pace by Railroad Station (David Miller) and swept by the tiring leader around the final turn to win in 1:51.2.

Fasting (Jeremy Indof) was 4¼-lengths back in second, Waitingforguffman (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) third and Railroad Station was fourth.

The Papi Rob Hanover gelding is trained by co-owner Todd Schadel, Christine Schadel, Timothy Hayes and Dr. Megan Moschgat.

$145,000 (DIV.) OHIO BREEDERS CHAMPIONSHIP (2-YEAR-OLD COLT PACE)

The undefeated Rick Wink (Chris Page) took control of the field of six at the quarter-mile pole and sprinted six lengths clear of Extra Suds (Brett Miller) and House Of Brix (Trevor Smith) to take the second division.

The 1:50.2 final time established a new stakes record and was just two-fifths-of-a-second off the world mark.

The Bit Of A Legend N colt is conditioned by Ron Burke for the Burke Racing Stable, R A S Stable, Knox Services, J&T Silva-Purnel-Libby. He was bred by Larry R. Miller.

Rick Wink, who was a $27,000 yearling purchase, has not tasted defeat in seven seasonal starts and now has earned $207,250.

Bars And Notes (Tyler Smith) skimmed the pylons in the stretch to go from worst to first in the first division.

The pacesetting Downbythewater (Chris Lems) was second and Fabio Hanover (Wrenn, Jr.) was third.

The winner is co-owned by trainer Joseph Lucas and At The Wire Farms.

The final time of 1:53.1 was a new lifetime best for the gelded son of Racing Hill who was bred by Kevin Greenfield and Michael Creps.

$131,200 OHIO BREEDERS CHAMPIONSHIP (3-YEAR-OLD COLT PACE)

Outer Banks (Page) kept the challenging Paris’s Dragon (Dan Noble) in the pocket long enough to score a neck victory in the second division in 1:52.1.

The Downbytheseaside gelding is owned by Burke Racing Stable, R A S Stable, J&T Silva-Purnel-Libby and Weaver Bruscemi.

The winner was purchased for $50,000 as a yearling from the breeder Frank Nanna.

Janelle Granny (Dexter Dunn) used a three-wide move in the final turn and wore down the leading Clever Cody (Aaron Merriman) in the first $65.600 division. Hundred Dollar Man (Montrell Teague) was a closing third.

Trainer Virgil Morgan, Jr. continued his hot streak with this Fear The Dragon colt, who is owned by Betty Jo Clegg.

Janelle Granny lowered his lifetime mark with the 1:49.4 victory.

$118,200 OHIO BREEDERS CHAMPIONSHIP (3-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACE)

Calypso Pearl (Dan Noble) survived a two-prong stretch challenge from the outside Seaside Diva (Chris Page) and the inside Katies Up (Yannick Gingras) to score a neck win in 1:51.2.

Christi Noble trains the homebred winner for Sandra Burnett.

The Fear The Dragon filly won for the fifth time in 2024 after going unraced at 2.

$115,200 OHIO BREEDERS CHAMPIONSHIP (3-YEAR-OLD COLT TROT)

Spaaaanzano (Merriman) and Tennessee Tom (Page) has been battling each other for the past two years and this time Spaaaanzano came out on top by three lengths in 1:53.2.

Tennessee Tom edged Royal Precedent (Wrenn, Jr.) in a place photo.

The Coraggioso gelding is trained and co-owned by Chris Beaver who he shares ownership with Spaaaartners, Bill Manes and Leo Fleming.