Thatll Be The Rei, driven by Mike Micallef, and Dont Tell Rusty, handled by Kevin Wallis, were inseparable at the wire in Pompano Park's $13,000 Open Handicap Pace on Saturday night.
The pair hit the wire together in 1:51.1 after Thatll Be The Rei cut all of the fractions--:26.2, :54.3 and 1:22--and then drifted out just enough in the lane for Dont Tell Rusty to sneak through along the pylons late for the tie ballgame.
Fancyfreeshark, with Bruce Ranger handling the lines, finished third while stablemate Lyons Johnny wound up fourth. Pontiac Luck picked up the "nickel" in sextet.
Each combatant in the dead-heat won for the initial time in 2015 with Thatll Be The Rei, a five-year-old son of Cheyenne Rei, winning for the 29th time in 51 lifetime starts and Dont Tell Rusty, a six-year-old by Tell All, achieving his 11th success in 78 career trips back of the starting gate.
In a post race interview, Micallef said, "With a lot of the early speed outside in here, I thought it best to try and go down the road since his only win here was gate-to-wire a few starts back. He has good gate speed and I really didn't think anybody would try and tackle an opener in :26 and change. He hadn't been out in a couple of weeks so he might have been just a trifle short late in the mile but he raced very well. I was very pleased with his performance tonight."
The other dead-heat participant, Wallis, related, "This is the first time I sent him on early...only because he drew well here and I was hoping to get a nice trip after yielding. I knew he was capable of a good final quarter and, when we found some room on the inside, well, he responded nicely. He's just a good, solid racehorse and he might have been a bit tighter than some of the others that had missed a week or two."
Thatll Be The Rei, also trained by Micallef for owner Dan Courtemanche, pushed his lifetime bounty to $249,477 while Dont Tell Rusty, trained by Paul Holzman for owner Melvin Fink, sent his lifetime bankroll to nearly $100,000--$99,636 to be exact.
Thatll Be The Rei, off at 6-1, returned a dead-heat price of $7.80 while Dont Tell Rusty, 16-1 on the board, paid $16.00 to his $2 backers.
The co-feature event, the $20,000-$25,000 claiming handicap, went to Johnny Grippa, driven by Joe Sanzeri.
This seven-year-old altered son of Cams Card Shark took full advantage of a miscue in the lane by the 1-2 favourite, Canadian Touch, to take command and then hold off the furious late surge of Always N The Money, with Peter Wrenn driving, to score by a neck in 1:52.2. Ahead Of The Curve and Joe Pavia Jr. were eventually awarded third while Ts Electric was moved up a notch to fourth. Canadian Touch, third under the wire, was placed fifth due to his aforementioned miscue.
Johnny Grippa won for the 38th time during his career measuring 97 starts and now has $164,770 on his card--$18,325 of that since being claimed by Sanzeri along with Russ Guardino. Off at 5-1, Johnny Grippa paid $13.60 to win.
Late closing events also highlighted the Saturday night card with The Baron Lancer and Murdock Hanover spotlighting claiming pacers and The Florida Amateur Driving Club Late Closer for claiming trotters.
The Baron Lancer, with a bulky field of 11 going to the gate, went to Coopers Beach, driven by Jason Dillander for owner/trainer Shawn Glassmeyer.
This six-year-old son of Western Ideal survived a torturous opening half of :53.4 and actually pulled away from the field in the lane to score a sharp four length win in 1:52. Milliondollartouch (27-1) finished second for Dan Clements while Attack Modes Billy (47-1), with Ed Hensley, was third. Coopers Beach, second choice at 5-2, paid $7.60 to win.
The two divisions of the Murdock Hanover went to In Mint Condition (Mike Micallef) and Officernagentleman (Matt Romano).
In Mint Condition, owned by Lew and Kathleen Whitaker, made a sharp quarter move to the top and just did hold off Ring Leader, charging through on the pylons, and Fearless Chip, on the outside, to score in 1:52.1 as the 3-2 favourite.
After the event, Micallef joked, "I guess I was the cream in the middle of the Oreo cookie in that one!"
In Mint Condition won for the 24th time in his career to send his lifetime bankroll to $149,563.
Officernagentleman, trained and driven by Matt Romano for C & F Associates, also hung on for dear life in scoring a head decision over the late-charging Red Hot Yankee and Rick Plano in 1:52.2 for his 20th lifetime win. Bold Willie and Dan Clements teamed up for third. Even money on the toteboard, Officernagentleman paid $4.20 to win.
Finally, two divisions of The Florida Amateur Driving Club Late Closer went behind the Hummer Starting Gate and South Jersey Hey and Royalty On High proved victorious in their respective events.
South Jersey Hey gave amateur driver Steve Oldford his 99th lifetime victory by rallying in the lane to score a 2:01.2 decision over American Empress, driven by Jamie Marra, with Whosover and Don Glowacki teaming up for show honours. The winner paid $5.00 as the public choice.
Royalty On High, driven by Dein Spriggs, took advantage of some hot fractions early--for the class--and then snuck through along the inside to light up the toteboard with a $49.00 mutuel in scoring a two and a half length win over L F Topaz and Billy Muggleston in 2:01.1. VTs Gold Key was third for Leon Cable.
Pompano's Super Hi-5 again had multiple winners on Saturday night and the carryover for Sunday's program is well in excess of $60,000. Post time is 7:30 p.m.
(With files from Pompano Park / Photo by Skip Smith)