Pompano Park is set to kick off its 50th anniversary pari-mutuel season on Saturday, October 5.
John Yinger, director of Racing, said that this season will feature new wagering options for the fans, as well as several new faces stiffening the competition, a new lighting system and a bump in purses. "We are going to offer a Pick-5 wager to kick things off on the wagering side--this to go along with our popular Pick-3 and Pick-4 bets. Of course, we'll have our usual wide array of other wagers on the menu, too," he said.
Some of the new stables expected to heighten the level of competition include those of Jim Hardy, Chris Lems, Dave Stratton, Bruce Clarke, Jimmy Whittemore and Greg Wright.
Yinger continued, "With our returning stables of great horsemen like Mike Deters, Wally Hennessey, Jim McDonald, Bruce Ranger, Joe Pavia, Jr. and Rick Plano, just to name a few, the racing will, no doubt, be at it's highest plateau in our 50 year history and we hope the harness community of fans will take notice.
"We expect that the addition of Sunday racing, beginning in mid-November, will also get some serious notice from the fans."
Pompano will also host a non-wagering program this Saturday, September 28, featuring Florida breeds in Sunshine State Stakes competition.
The Saturday matinee program has a post time of 11:30 a.m. and features many two-year-olds beginning their racing careers. Also, the three-year-old divisions have drawn some very powerful performers including a renewed rivalry between last season's top two juvenile pacing colt performers, Goldstar Thumper and Hillybilly.
Goldstar Thumper, a son of Rock On, was bred and is owned and trained by Tom Audley. Goldstar Thumper was last year's champion in his division, pinning a narrow defeat on arch-rival Hillybilly. He will be making his initial start of the year and will have the driving services of Bob Williams, Jr.
Hillybilly, a son of N Aboriginal trained by Marc Aubin for breeder and owner Amanta Standardbreds, is already the author of a 1:52.1 mark this year and will have Bruce Ranger in the bike.
The sophomore pacing event for the fillies pits two exceptionally talented fillies against each other--Seven Arias and Tashia. Seven Arias, trained by Mark Friedman for owner by Laura Newbery, was last season's champ, winning the crown of Super Night at Pompano with a splendid 1:55 mile for then trainer-driver Deshawn Minor.
She has had but three starts this semester and has a 0-1-2 scorecard but comes into the action off of a sharp 1:58-:58 qualifying win over a track labelled as 'good' after drenching rains.
Tashia, owned by Jay Sears along with trainer Kim Sears, is on a roll, having secured five straight wins coming into this action. After a winless 2012 season, Tashia has won eight times this year with her last win in a lifetime best 1:55.
(Pompano Park)