While all the hullabaloo was about the mandatory Super Hi-5 payout at Pompano Park on Wednesday night (Feb. 9), one astute and lucky member of the “Send It In Army” celebrated a few races earlier with a $20,630.30 score on a 50-cent Pick-5 ticket.

The huge payoff was made possible when Kelly “Sky” Walker upset the applecart with his 59-1 outsider, Storms Coming, in the final leg of the sequence.

The five-year-old son of Stormin Normand, who was 3-1 in last week’s event in this same class, was dismissed this night as he changed strategy, coming off the pace this time around to close fastest of all to score in 1:58.2 for his first win of the new year in four starts. A recent purchase for the Kelly Walker Stable, Storms Coming established a new lifetime mark with this win, his eighth in 72 career starts.

The winning sequence in the Pick-5 included a 7-1 winner in the opener followed by 2-1, 5-2 and 2-1 in the next three races before Storms Coming thundered past in deep stretch to return a $120.20 win mutuel. The win also left the superfecta for that race uncovered, creating a rare instant carryover of $11,012 into the seventh race superfecta.

(Pompano Park)