Four Melvyn Aylor Memorial events, honouring the memory of the late, great Florida horseman, were contested at Pompano Park on Sunday night (November 20).

Gold Star Aurora and Prairie Panther established new lifetime marks with their winning efforts, Famous C recovered from an early miscue to win her assignment and Im Done held on for dear life at the end of his mile to eke out a close victory.

Kicking things off were three non-wagering events and, in the first one, Im Done, driven by John MacDonald, took home the major share of the $14,550 purse for the two-year-old trotting colts and geldings.

The gelded son of Toro Bravo won an early war with arch-rival Azzaro (Wally Hennessey), opened up a long lead of a dozen lengths or so as the latter made a miscue early on and then held on for dear life at the end of the mile clocked in 2:06.4 after panels of :30.3, 1:01.3 and 1:33.1.

Trained by Jim McDonald for owner Troy Basista, Im Done now sports a 4-4-0 scorecard in eight starts, good for bounty of $37,278.

Arch-rival Azzaro has the same 4-4-0 record in eight starts and $29,707 in earnings with the championship final round next week likely to determine the local Horse of the Year in that juvenile division.

Next, Famous C was in the spotlight in the non-wagering Aylor Memorial for two-year-old trotting fillies after she recovered from an early miscue to take command shortly past the :31.1 opener and then on to victory in 2:01.

Handled by Wally Hennessey, this daughter of Famously pinned a six and a half length defeat on Bonnie Blue Banker (Rob Hoffman) with Prairie Pixie (John MacDonald) next and Miss Olivia Irene fourth in this quartet.

After the race, Hennessey declared, “What really helped was that kind of tepid opening quarter. That allowed me to get back in the ballgame and, once I made the lead, she was solid.”

Trained by Dan Hennessey for Amante Standardbreds, Famous C won for the third time this semester in seven starts pushing her bankroll to $21,884.

The third and final non-wagering Aylor Memorial event was for two year-old pacing fillies and, in a cavalry charge to the wire, Gold Star Aurora, driven by Walter Ross Jr., just did hold off challenges from both sides of the fence to score by a head over Tay Tay M (Wally Hennessey) with Prairie Cowgirl (John Mac Donald) another head away in third. PF Silver Classic and Golden Diamond completed the rundown in this quintet.

Leading at poles timed in :28.4, :59 and 1:28.2, Gold Star Aurora used a :28.2 finale to withstand the serious pressure at the end of the journey.

In a post-race interview, Walter Ross Jr. said, “My gosh, they were surrounding me on both sides but my filly dug in deep. She’s got heart, I’ll say that—a big heart!”

Trained by Maggie Audley for owner Marianne Audley, this daughter of Rock On won for the sixth time in seven career trips post-ward to send her 2016 earnings to $33,652.

The Aylor for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings kicked off the betting card and Prairie Panther, co-owned by Laurie Poulin along with trainer Mike Deters, remained undefeated in six Pompano Park starts with a near gate-to-wire score in 1:55.1, a new lifetime mark.

Deters was in the bike as this gelded son of Royal Millennium carded panels of :27.4, :58 and 1:27 before sealing the issue with a :28.1 finale. Gold Star Bugsy was second, two and a quarter lengths back, while Maybe Ned (Bryce Fenn) finished third. Moon Doggie was fourth while Gold Star Spider finished fifth in the sextet of youngsters.

Prairie Panther sent his earnings to $34,555 with the win and rewarded his multitude of followers with a $2.20 mutuel as the 1-10 favourite.

In Pompano Park’s $10,000 Open Pace, Panocchio, again handled by Wally Hennessey, scored his fourth straight win since his fall arrival in South Florida, stopping the timer in 1:51.1 on a “coolish” night.

The amazing six-year-old gelded son of No Pan Intended took command around the initial turn and went on to card panels of :26.4, :55.2 and 1:23 before holding off the late surge of Here Comes William (Donald Dupont) by three-part-of-a-length. Rockntouch (Mickey McNichol), pacing the fastest final quarter of all in this quintet (:27.4), finished third, a length away, with No Bad Dreams fourth and Duc Dorleans fifth in a field separated by only two and a quarter lengths on the line.

In a post-race interview, Hennessey said, “Well, what can I say that hasn’t already been said about Panocchio. Just Xerox a copy of what was written about him last time and use that!

“He’s just a great horse that does everything asked of him. Jim (trainer Mattison) doesn’t do too much with him training but when he hits the track and goes back of the gate, he’s all business.”

Owned by Emile Johnson, Jr. along with trainer Mattison, Panocchio now shows a 23-10-7-2 scorecard, good for $93,161. Lifetime, Panocchio has $383,928 in earnings on the strength of 46 wins in 105 career starts.

As the 1-5 toteboard favourite, Panocchio returned a $2.60 mutuel.

Racing continues on Monday night as Pompano Park moves to a Sunday through Wednesday schedule with post time set at 7:20 p.m.

(With files from Pompano Park)