Capuano Barn nominates 3 for Withers
Press release- January 19, 2026
Trainer Gary Capuano said he has nominated a trio of horses from Hollywood Import, Let’s Go Lando and Wild Warrior for the $200,000 Withers on Jan. 31 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The nine-furlong route for sophomores offers 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the top five finishers.
“I’ve nominated three and I’m thinking about sending one or two. I’m not sure yet, so I’ll see how it goes this week,” Capuano said.
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Pocket 3’s Racing’s Hollywood Import, a Kentucky-bred Honor AP colt, was last seen running a game-changing score of 1 3/4 lengths over favorite stablemate Probably Dreaming, who was bumped during the break and closed late along the rail, in the seven-furlong Heft on December 27 at Laurel Park.
“He’s starting to get a little fuller and more mature and is putting things together,” Capuano said. “He still needs to mature a bit, but at the moment he is on the right track.”
Hollywood Import would face his furthest test yet at the Withers, and Capuano has the colt running a mile around Laurel Park’s main track twice, including in 1:45.80 on Friday. On January 9, he covered the same distance in 1:43.40.
“I treated him about a week ago and he wouldn’t relax. He was a little too excited and didn’t finish very well,” Capuano said. “The other day he worked and relaxed a lot more and finished a lot stronger. I was happy with that.”
Hollywood Import, out of the Curlin mare Baby Zito, is a half-brother to Big Stretch, who captured the one-mile Escape Clause at Assiniboia Downs in 2023. Hollywood Import was purchased for $50,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Probably Dreaming by Paul Fowler, Jr. was tight in the backstretch and shuffled back to the last of the 6 on the turn before making his late attack. The Improbable sophomore colt won his first three starts, including scores at Delaware Park in the limited six-furlong First State Dash on September 14 and the Rocky Run contested on a two-turn mile on October 11.
The chestnut entered the Heft on November 1 via a second-place finish at Listed Nashua when he was 3 1/2 lengths behind My World, who abandoned that effort to win the local Jerome and now focuses on the Group 3 Saudi Derby.
Capuano said Probably Dreaming was recently sold privately and is no longer in his barn.
Eagle Up Stables, London Reid Thoroughbreds and Non Stop Stable’s Maryland-bred Let’s Go Lando were able to make his stakes debut in a six-length romp in a one-mile optional claimer contested over a sloppy and sealed base on Jan. 10 at Laurel Park.
The Game Winner gelding has an 8-2-2-2 record for a purse of $94,950.
Capuano said Bay has turned a corner since he was neutered late last summer, stretching to a mile and beyond after making his first four starts at sprint distances.
“As soon as we neutered him and gave him two turns, he had a close second place and then came back and won,” Capuano said. “The last kilometer in one corner he rode a very good race and finished strong. It might be a bit quick back for him, but we’ll see.”
Let’s Go Lando, a half-brother to stakes winners It’s Hammertime and Shackled Love, is out of the stakes-winning Not For Love mare Steady N Love – a half-sister to multiple stakes winners Malibu Beauty, Just Philtored and Steady Warrior. All of the above families raced for a time under Capuano’s tutelage.
Rose Petal Stable’s Wild Warrior has a perfect 4-2-0-2 in-the-money record and arrives Dec. 14 via a major 1 1 1/6-mile optional claim route in Laurel, with the next winners in runner-up Bala de Plata and the aforementioned Let’s Go Lando.
“He’s been training really well since the beginning of last year,” Capuano said. “He’s not really fast at the beginning and he’s just a very stable horse, so we stretched him from the start. He had a nice race last and everything is coming together with him.”
The $25,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale purchase comes from the winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Inaweofnooneatall – a half-sister to double stakes winner Bel Air Beauty.
Capuano indicated that Eagle Up Stables, London Reid Thoroughbreds and Non Stop Stable’s stakes winner It’s Hammertime, a four-year-old Vekoma colt from Maryland, are in training and a spot has not yet been selected.
The double stakes winner was last seen winning an optional claimer at Laurel in April. It is Hammertime who installed back-to-back bullet works last month, including half a mile from the gate at 47.40 on December 30 in its last reported breeze.
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