Trainer Dale Capuano scored his 3,000th victory when he saddled Father Mudd to win the ninth race at Laurel Park Feb. 23 (VIDEO).
“I was pretty proud when I won our first race, so when you get to 3,000 it’s pretty remarkable,” Capuano said in a release. “It has just been a pretty good run. You know we’ve had a lot of help, great clients, great barn people who work for us, a team effort. I’m just the leader.”
The 49-year-old joins a club that includes other Maryland regulars King Leatherbury (6,335), Scott Lake (5,153), Buddy Delp (3,674), and Dick Dutrow (3,665).
“Racing against most of those guys, day in and day out, just makes you better,” Capuano said. “The business has changed quite a bit since the mid-90s and early 2000s. We’re trying to change with the times and things are tougher now, but we’re going to keep rolling along.
"The economy is going down and most of the tracks race less days than they used to back then, so we’re based here and we just don’t have the days we had 10 or 15 years ago, and that really is a difference to an outfit like mine.”
Capuano will go for number 3,001 in Laurel’s Feb. 25 opener with Iris' Proverb.
“I really haven’t thought about the milestone much,” Capuano said. “I am glad we reached it. We really aren’t winning races like we used to. I am just trying to go to work each day and doing the best I can do.
"When things slow down I am sure I will look back at this accomplishment and reminisce, but this was just another race we were trying to find a way to win.”