Northern Companion and Ricks Sign shared the spotlight as they captured the co-features Saturday night at Pompano Park.

Northern Companion, handled by Dave Ingraham, won the $8,500 Open Handicap Pace, grinding forward from last the entire last lap to nail a 1:52.1 victory in the final strides.

The six-year-old son of Cambest, trained by Howard Klohr for owner Dorothy Zarza, achieved his initial victory of the year by a half-length over Thebestofjoel (Ed Hensley) with Southern Sport (Joe Pavia, Jr.) next, two and a quarter lengths away. Restless Yankee finished fourth and the 7-5 favourite, Eastend Eddie, picked up the 'nickel' after making a very confident brush to the front just after the :26.4 opener and carding subsequent panels of :55.3 and 1:23.

Assigned post eight in the field, Northern Companion got to move in a notch with the scratch of Electric Lad and was away in a relaxed manner as Thebestofjoel and Southern Sport mixed it up early with the latter carving up the opening number. Meanwhile, Northern Companion was out by turn two, but still sixth about a half-dozen lengths away from the leader. On the backside, the pace quickened but Northern Companion was still able to dent the official :27.2 third quarter and was about three lengths away turning for home.

At that point, Eastend Eddie was being attacked from all sides by Southern Sport and Thebestofjoel with Northern Companion grinding widest and fastest of all, collaring the remaining competition near the wire.

For Northern Companion, the win was his 33rd lifetime, sending his career bounty to $197,282.

"I'll tell ya, this horse can take a lot of air," said Ingraham in a post-race interview. "He just keeps mowing forward and doesn't quit. He can be kind of lazy leaving, but when he gets going, he REALLY gets going...and, of course, it helped that there were no jaguars [Prairie Jaguar] in there tonight."

As co-second choice in the wagering, Northern Companion paid $7.20 to win.

In the $20,000-$25,000 Claiming Handicap worth $8,500, Ricks Sign, handled by Simon Allard, went a monstrous mile grinding out a 1:53 victory measuring three parts of a length over Red Hot Yankee (Ed Hensley) with the favourite Premier third in that same photo. Gentleman Friend finished fourth with Just Fred fifth in the quintette that, front to back, were separated by just a shade over two lengths.

Red Hot Yankee cut the moderate opening fractions of :27.2 and :57.1 with Ricks Sign out and pressuring from the second turn all the way home -- the latter engaging the leader through a wicked :26.4 third panel and then finally squeaking on by inside the sixteenth pole for the win.

For Ricks Sign, the win was his 49th lifetime -- second this year. The nine-year-old's lifetime bankroll now stands at $322,276.

Highland Thoroughbred Farm co-owns Ricks Sign with trainer Marty Fine.

As second choice in the win pool, Ricks Sign paid $9 to win.

Carry-overs in both the Pick 5 and Pick 4 wagers highlight the Sunday night card, which gets underway at 7:05 p.m.

(With files from Pompano Park)