The lid lifter on Monday evening (Jan. 25) at Pompano Park was a special one for a couple of reasons: the clocking of 1:49.3 was a breathtaking one, and it turned out to be an incredible milestone win for a very classy pacer.
Southwind Amazon, an 11-year-old son of Camluck-Artoonist, powered to the lead for driver David Miller and then drew away from the competition en route to racking up his 100th lifetime victory.
After parking past the quarter pole in :26.1, Southwind Amazon brushed to the lead and carved out middle splits of :54.3 and 1:22.1 before using a :27.2 final frame to win by six lengths over Captain Velocity. Peter Dalt was third.
"That was some performance by 'Amazon,'" said Miller. "He almost seemed to know that this was going to be his moment He was determined from start to finish and if was like he was gritting his teeth to say 'let's get this done!"
"It was an amazing mile by any horse, but, he being 11, well that was really amazing."
Paul Holzman trains the hard-knocking veteran who won for the first time in four attempts this season. The career winner in excess of $1.1 million earned his career speed badge of 1:48.3 last season at Scioto Downs. That was a year in which the gelding manufactured a 12-6-6 record from 32 trips to the track.
Ameer Najor of West Bloomfield, Mich., owns the pacer.
Southwind Amazon paid $2.20 to win.
Muscles For Life and Seeing Eye Single garnered their shares of the spotlight as well, taking top honours in their respective $11,500 Open events.
Muscles For Life, catch-driven by Mike Simons, took the Open Handicap Trot in 1:53, a track record for older trotting stallions. The eight-year-old son of Muscle Mass, trained by Steve Oldford for owner Jerold Hawks, conquered his six rivals despite beginning his journey from the outside post.
His winning margin was one length over the 13-year-old warhorse Cantab Lindy (John MacDonald), with The Lionking AS (Kevin Wallis) just another nose back in third.
Muscles For Life earned his second win in three starts this year and 34th in 96 career starts, vaulting his lifetime bankroll to $362,470. He paid $4.80 to win.
Seeing Eye Single, with John MacDonald in his sulky, was the last of a handful of different leaders in the Open Pace, stopping the timer in 1:49.3, equalling his lifetime mark taken at The Meadowlands.
The six-year-old gelded son of Dragon Again brushed strongly from sixth around the second turn, secured the lead heading into the final bend, and reported home a one-length winner over the late-charging Ideal Feeling (Rick Plano). Kinnder Jackson (Mike Simons) closed fastest of all, finished third.
Seeing Eye Single now shows a 2-0-1 scorecard in four starts this semester with this win being his 21st in 73 career starts, good for $453,827. He returned $21.00 to win.
Racing continues on Tuesday night (Jan. 26), with an 11-race program highlighted by the Open Handicap Pace for mares and a Pick-4 with a guaranteed pool of $20,000. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(with files from Pompano Park)