Four Socks, catch-driven by Wally Hennessey, took top honours in Pompano Park's featured Open Pace on Sunday night (May 6), as he stopped the clock in 1:52.4.
The gelded son of I Scoot Hanover showed his four socks to a classy field while scoring a wire-to-wire win (:27, :56.4, 1:24.2). He utilized an effortless :28.2 final panel to win by one and a quarter lengths over Caviart Reagan (driven by by Dave Ingraham).
The favoured Dees Rocketman finished third for Mickey McNichol and Team Captain and Spirit Shadow completed the roster in the quintet.
"Murph's horse (Four Socks) was sharp as a tack coming in,” Hennessey said afterward. “I knew that because I had been racing against him in recent weeks and he was full of pace late against Panocchio in his last start. So, when you know your competition and get an opportunity to drive a horse like this, it's a blessing. We got to the lead very easy and he was nice and relaxed during the second quarter which really helped the cause.
"I'll tell you who gets the credit here – Mike's wife (Barbara) and Joan Uszak, who has been in this business just about forever, do just a fantastic job taking care of this horse. He is immaculate! They get all the credit because he was ready to race tonight."
Trained by Mike Murphy for owners Barbara Murphy and Geneva Stewart, Four Socks won for the third time this year in what was his 13th start. He has now earned $18,958 on the campaign and $181,884 lifetime.
Four Socks paid $4.20 to his multitude of faithful and kicked off a Pick-6 sequence that paid a generous $212.05 for the 50-cent ticket, despite the fact that, following Four Socks, four favourites won and the longest shot in the Pick-6 was 3-1.
Pompano racing will resume on Wednesday night. Post time has been set at 7:20 p.m.
(With files from Pompano Park)