'Amber' Sparkles In Florida Sun
Despite a rain-dampened track which had caused more than an hour delay earlier in Pompano Park's Wednesday night program, Diamond Amber produced a gate-to-wire 1:57.1 effort to capture the $12,500 final of the Sunshine Stakes for three-year-old Florida-bred fillies.
Driven for the first time by Kevin Wallis, who recently returned to the Pompano driving colony for the winter, Diamond Amber bested Prairie Lee (driven by Tom Sells) and Gold Star Gidget (Walter Ross Jr.) by two lengths. The partnership of Sidney Korn, Ann Pelling Wade and P.G. Wiley own the daughter of Six Of Diamonds, who is trained by Brian Pelling.
A pair of $17,425 divisions of the Florida Sales Stakes for freshman distaff pacers were also contested. In the first, Don't Spank Me (Kevin Wallis) just nosed out rival Dona (Tom Lehmann) in a mild upset clocked in 1:57.3. It was the first lifetime win for the daughter of Capital Request who is owned by trainer Wayne Carter and his wife, Jean. Dandee Diamond (Bob Roberts) finished third. Heavily favoured Seven Arias (Deshawn Minor) splashed through the heaviest downpour of the night in 2:00.1 to capture her fifth straight triumph in the second lucrative division. I Spy A Gator (Sells) and Tashia (Bruce Ranger) finished second and third while never threatening the talented winner owned by Laura Newbery.
The weekly $8500 Open Trot also went postward on Wednesday night with My Revenuer (Bruce Ranger), who finished second three consecutive times to the sidelined Dutchess Seelster, finally winning, albeit by a diminishing head margin over Celebrity Legacy (Dave Ingraham). Owner-trainer Tom Petri has managed My Revenuer to an impressive four-year-old season with nine wins among 20 in-the-money finishes from just 27 starts. Good Luck Penny (Jim McDonald) got the show dough.
Racing resumes at Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.
(Pompano)