Jolenes Pinehonker, driven by Jason Dillander, used a ferocious stretch rally to score a repeat victory in pompano Park's $10,000 Open Trot on Wednesday night.
The five year-old gelded son of Pinetucky, trained by Mark O'Mara for owner Lester Raber, appeared hopelessly out of contention for the top spot turning for home but unleashed an eye-opening sprint in the final eighth (:13) to nail pacesetting Andover America (Bruce Ranger) near the wire to score by a half-length in 1:55.
HP Forte, driven by Mark O'Mara, stablemate of the winner but uncoupled in the betting due to separate ownership, finished a fast-closing third, while Blomkvist, prominent in the garden spot through panels of :27.2, :56.4 and 1:25.3, finished fourth. Shes All In was fifth and earned the final award in the field of eight.
"Never in a million years did I think I was going to catch Bruce's horse (Andover America) turning for home,” said driver Jason Dillander. “I really thought that the cover I was following wasn't drafting me close enough but, when I gave my trotter racetrack, he absolutely exploded with trot. It was pretty unbelievable, that close of his was!"
For Jolenes Pinehonker, it was his second win of the year in three starts and 16th success lifetime in only 49 starts sending his career bounty to $327,345. She paid $3.00 to win.
Also sharing the spotlight on Wednesday were Dutchess Seelster, Keystone Thomas and Gale Warning.
Dutchess Seelster, trained by Don Glowacki for owner John Campagnuolo, was driven by Wally Hennessey in the $8,500 Open 2 Trot and the eight year-old mare responded with a gate-to-wire win in 1:54.4, highlighted by a final panel in :27.4.
The ‘Dutchess’ has now banked $256,388, primarily on the strength of her 26 lifetime wins. It was her initial success of the new season in three starts.
Keystone Thomas, driven by Joe Pavia, Jr., used similar gate-to-wire tactics to score a handy one-length win in a conditioned event for the consortium of Peter and Wai Shank, the AGC Stables and the Joe Pavia, Jr. Stable.
The win, Keystone Thomas' 42nd lifetime, vaulted his lifetime earnings just under $400,000.
Finally, the aging warhorse Gale Warning, now 11, won for the 60th time during his illustrious career.
The son of Strong Gale used a :27.2 blitz on the backstretch to take command around the final turn and went on to score a victory measuring 1-3/4 lengths for driver Ed Hensley in 1:57.1.
Gale Warning is trained by Rod Lorenzo, who co-owns with Ciro Gentile.
(Pompano Park)