Rick Plano and Fern Paquet Jr. each reached significant milestones at Pompano Park on Monday night (Nov. 4), as Plano scored his 7,000th career victory, just 20 minutes after Paquet notched his 3,000th win.

Plano, who has been involved in harness racing for five decades, reached the winner’s circle with three year-old filly Hypnotic Racer, who was facing an older group of mares.

The daughter of Hypnotic Blue Chip scored in 1:55.2 despite having started from the outside Post 8 and having been forced to grind forward for the entirety of the final lap.

Rick Plano recorded a significant milestone on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019 at Pompano Park, as he scored his 7,000th career win.

"It was like she, herself, wanted to get this milestone win for me," Plano said after the race. “She was in a good spot class-wise, although the draw (Post 8) didn't do us any favours against these more-seasoned mares."

Plano continued, "there are a lot of factors that contributed to the success I have had… after all, you have to have a strong cast of people on your team. That's starts with my wife, Maryann, who has stuck with me through thick and thin. I have had some great owners, too, like the Repkos (Jan and Mindy) and John Campagnuolo, just to name a couple.

"It definitely is a team effort and I have been fortunate to have wonderful help. Right now, I'm lucky enough to have Candy Ramirez, Domingo Alvarez and Maria Howard watching the store and their dedication has kept me in the ball game."

Hypnotic Race, by the way, is owned by Maryann Plano. She recorded her fourth win of the year in what was her 26th seasonal start. The win pushed her 2019 bounty to $27,737.

As third choice on the tote board, Hypnotic Racer paid $9.20 to win.

Plano is one of the few trainer-drivers in the sport with a combined total of over 10,000 combined wins as a driver (7,000) and trainer (3,872), which has accounted for over $50 million in purses for his owners.

Fern Paquet Jr., pictured notching his 3,000th career victory on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019 at Pompano Park.

Paquet recorded his milestone win with the 11-1 outsider Mcjagersonthemove, who bottomed out his competitors with a new lifetime mark of 1:51.3.

Trained by Jennifer Petrelli for owner Marissa Russo, the seven-year-old gelded son of McArdle was quick off of the wings and got to the lead at the :27.1 opener.

From there, Mcjagersonthemove went on to reach the half in :55.2 and put the rest away with a :27.2 backside blitz. He reached the third station in 1:22.4. His :28.4 finale sealed the 10 and a quarter-length win.

The victory was the third of the year for Mcjagersonthemove, and the victory pushed his earnings over the $10,000 plateau.

"I knew he was fast," a humble Paquet said after the race, "as he did a similar thing over Scarborough's half miler when he won in (1:) 52.3. So, I thought 'let's use that same strategy here.' It worked out, too."

Mcjagersonthemove returned $25.00 to win

Also on the Monday program were four $12,000 finals of the FSBOA-sponsored Sunshine State Stakes for three-year-olds, which saw Proud Sophie, Damien Hall and Natasha win their non-wagering events. Also, Zaza Boy rebounded this week and scored to kick off the early daily double.

Racing at Pompano will continue on Tuesday night. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.

(With files from Pompano Park / FSBOA)