Live racing on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit has moved back to Mohawk Racetrack, thus many familiar faces will be returning to the Campbellville, Ont. oval. One of those regulars, Steve Condren, will not be at the picturesque oval on opening day, as he is currently down in the United States winning Opens.
Flyhawk El Durado, perfectly handled by Condren, took top honours in Pompano Park's $12,000 Open Trot on Wednesday night (April 8). The bay got the job done in 1:54.2 for the first victory of his 2015 campaign.
The four-year-old son of Conway Hall, trained by Dale Gilmour for owner Martin Scharf, made a sharp quarter (:29) move to the top and then proceeded to stitch together subsequent quarters of :28.2, :28.4 and :28.1 to score a handy win over R G Rocket and Dave Ingraham. The winning margin was just short of two lengths.
My Revenuer (driven by Tom Sells) rallied for third. The early leader, Highland Yankee, finished fourth. Increditable finished fifth.
"This trotter drives like an El Dorado automobile,” Condren said after the race. “I started him off in second gear then put him in overdrive around the first turn and then cruise control thereafter. You know, he gave a hint last week showing some good stout trot late, so I thought he'd be very good tonight...and he didn't disappoint."
As the overwhelming 1-5 favourite, Flyhawk El Durado paid $2.40 to his many followers.
Another Hall of Fame driver was front and centre during Pompano’s Wednesday card, as Wally Hennessey recorded four wins on the evening (with Willies Guitar, Adenium, Terrys Star Dragon and Goldstar Classic).
Pompano Super Hi-5 Carryover Pierces $125,000
Pompano's Super Hi-5 carryover pierced the $125,000 mark when 10 skilled handicappers cashed in on the 7-9-4-1-3 combination to the tune of $843.02 on Wednesday night.
The carryover heading into Saturday night's 10-race card is $125,000.09.
To take the entire pool, the winner must have the only ticket on the winning combination.
Multiple winners split the net pool on a 50-50 basis with the remaining half filtered into the following night's Super Hi-5 pool.
First-race post time for the Saturday night card is 7:30 p.m., with the feature Open Handicap Pace pitting last week's winner, Panocchio, against Duc Dorleans. The two combatants were just a nose apart on the wire last week. Steelhead Hanover may have something to ‘neigh’ about, as he comes off two impressive wins at Pompano, the fastest in 1:49.2. Northern Companion, Neptune and Canadian Touch complete the million-dollar field, which has been carded at the first half of the late daily double with the Super Hi-5 immediately following.
(With files from Pompano)