Drake, handled by veteran driver Bob Roberts, pulled off the major upset as Pompano Park hosted four lucrative FSBOA Stallion Stakes—three non-wagering events—on Tuesday night.
Drake pinned the three-length defeat on Owosso Flash (Mike Deters) with Caesars Forum (Wally Hennessey) third. Stutz and Gold Star Roger completed that quintet.
Prairie Sweetheart, Gleneagles and Gold Star Dynasty also annexed victories in their respective classes.
Drake, a three-year-old son of Six Of Diamonds, was seeking a maiden win after 19 career starts—13 of those this semester—and appeared in “over his head” in this $30,950 non-wagering event with both Owosso Flash and Caesars Forum in the fray, the latter pair dominating this class for sophomore pacing colts and geldings thus far in the season.
But a surprise was lurking in this event—a surprise timed in 1:54.1.
Indeed, it was Caesars Forum, with Wally Hennessey in the bike, using his inside post to perfection with Owosso Flash right behind through an opening quarter in a tepid :29.2. That’s when the fireworks began in earnest with Owosso Flash leaving the cozy pocket to engage the leader in battle. A :26.2 second panel left this pair literally nostrils apart at the :55.4 half with Drake now a dozen lengths away followed by Stutz and Gold Star Roger. The feverish pace continued on the backside with the top pair battling tooth and nail through a :54.2 middle half, reaching the third station in 1:23.4.
Literally 20 lengths out of it three-eighths out, Drake began to gnaw into the lead and, when the “plugs” came out around the final turn, Roberts literally spoke to his charge and he answered back with a devastating rally that left the field in his wake.
After the event, driver Roberts related, “You know, last week I told Kim (trainer Sears) that Drake was really starting to find his stride and he might have been closer had it not been for some road trouble. This time, I knew I was going to get away third and when they battled for so long, I thought I just might get to them this time. I like to talk to my horses when I drive them and, when I popped the plugs, I said, ‘ok, boy, time to show ‘em what your made of!”
Owned by Jay and Kim Sears, Drake more than doubled his lifetime earnings in his first 19 starts, now standing at $28,675.
In the $29,950 Stallion Stake for the juvenile pacing fillies, Prairie Sweetheart, the splendid daughter of Royal Millennium owned by John Spindler, along with Laurie Poulin and trainer Mike Deters, kept her career unblemished—now five-for-five—with a lifetime best 1:54.2 performance with trainer Mike in the bike.
Prairie Sweetheart sent her lifetime earnings to $27,764 after taking command from Caitlin’s Romance at the :28.2 opener and then on to fractions of :57.3 and 1:25.4 before sprinting home in :28.3 to seal the deal.
Caitlins Romance, second to Prairie Sweetheart in the last trio of Sunshine State Stakes, was second again, this time for Rick Plano. Diamond Lily, handled by Mike Micallef, was third with Gold Star Mysti and Trottime Sparks also earning purse cheques in the field of six.
In the $29,250 Stallion Stake for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings, Gleneagles, after a brief, early tussle with Conmans Dream, held on gamely with a :28 finale to score by a neck in 1:55.3 for Wally Hennessey over Conmans Dream and Jason Mac Dougall. R Chism finished third for Mike Micallef while ICU Diamond T finished fourth. Trottime Diamonds picked up the nickel in the sextet.
Gleneagles, a son of Mysticism owned by the Pinhook Stable, earned his fourth straight win to send his juvenile earnings to $37,198.
The $32,550 Stallion Stake for three-year-old pacing fillies was held on the betting card and Gold Star Dynasty continued her dynasty over her class with a lifetime best performance 1:55 performance for driver Aaron Byron.
Trained by Mike Deters for Oldford Farms, Jarold Hawks and Wrenn Racing, Gold Star Dynasty took command from Davita (Corey Braden) right at the opening marker in :28 and went on to post fractions of :57 and 1:26.1 before her :28.4 closer sealed the deal over Davita with Paxxie (Kevin Wallis) third. Gold Star Sonata finished fourth while stablemate Gold Star Charming finished fifth in the field of six.
Gold Star Dynasty now has a 7-4-1-0 scorecard this year, good for $27,287. She’s banked $70,324 lifetime in just 14 starts.
She paid $2.20 to her multitude of backers.
In the $10,000 Open Handicap for mares, Mach It A Par, deftly handled by owner Dan Clements, used a perfect garden journey to roll past the 2-5 favourite, Godiva Seelster (Wally Hennessey), a sixteenth out to win in 1:52.1, her margin 1-1/4 lengths at the wire. Classic Carpet (Kevin Wallis) finished third in her Pompano Park debut while Jets Are On and Winbak Heavenly picked up the final two awards in the field of seven.
The winner, trained by Renaldo Morales III, was away alertly from her inside post as Winbak Heavenly and Godiva Seelster decided to play a bit of hard ball early with Godiva three wide for much of the opening panel (:27) before assuming control shortly thereafter. With a half in :55.4 and three-quarters in 1:24, Godiva cut the corner turning for home but simply couldn’t fend off the pocket sitting Mach Me Not in deep stretch, although she did extend her streak of earning purse money to 71 starts encompassing her entire seasons as a three, four and, now, five year-old seasons.
Mach It A Par, meanwhile, won for the 11th time this season, good for $75,847, by far her most successful season of campaigning. The five-year-old daughter of Mach Three now has lifetime bounty of $112,749.
As second choice in the betting, Mach It A Par paid $7.20 to win.
Pompano Park now continues on a three night-a-week schedule (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) with post time 7:30 p.m.
(Pompano Park)