Two brilliant, but aging, veteran trotters -- Andover America and Gale Warning -- proved their merit on Wednesday night by taking their respective Open events at Pompano Park.
In the $10,000 top Open event, Andover America, now nine, earned his 54th lifetime victory with a splendid 1:57.2 effort for driver Bruce Ranger, easily scoring by three and a quarter lengths over Illusionsndreams, handled by Mickey McNichol. Adenium, with Aaron Byron in the bike, finished third after a brush from fourth to second on the backside and then was out-brushed in the lane. Tug River Dylan finished fourth with Lugar, on top early before making a miscue just short of the opening panel, picking up the last cheque in the quintette.
After the :28.3 opening quarter, Ranger put his charge on "cruise control," wiring three straight subsequent panels of :29.3 to seal the deal.
In a post race interview, Ranger said, "Yes, he's got a bit of age on him now...and, yes, he might be a step or two slower, but he sure knows how to get the job done. He's just a grand campaigner. I would have rather had the garden journey back of Lugar, but when he jumped, I kind of inherited the lead and it worked out nicely."
Trained by Stewart Nemiro for McTrade Enterprises, Andover America now banked $770,890 during his illustrious career.
Sent off at 3-5 on the toteboard, Andover America paid $3.40 to win.
The grand warrior Gale Warning, now 11, was driven by Mike Micallef and wore down the tempo-setting Whisper, driven by Frank Davis, around the final turn to score a three and three-quarter length victory in 1:56.4. Glittering Muscles (Bryce Fenn) finished third while Kascara Rosa was fourth under the line.
While Gale Warning's win was never in doubt once they turned for home, the judges detected a pylon violation by Whispur and that one was set back to fifth before the result was made official.
After the race, Micallef said, "This is just an amazing trotter. He seems to be very good after a short layoff and we got a great journey tonight. I had thought about making a quarter move, but the leader looked like he was a bit headstrong so I ducked back in the pocket and waited as long as I could. My horse 'told' me when he wanted to go...and go he did!"
Gale Warning, owned by trainer Rod Lorenzo along with restauranteur Ciro Gentile, won for the 63rd time during his sterling career, now showing earnings of $644,447.
Gale Warning paid $10.40 to win.
Finally, in the top Open event for fillies and mares, Winbak Heavenly, driven by Tom Sells, used a :27.3 final sprint to collar pacesetting Mach Me Not (Bruce Ranger) by a neck at the end of a 1:54 mile. Keystone Christa finished third for Bryce Fenn with Mamajons Bluegrass fourth and Miss Sparta picking up the 'nickel.'
Winbak Heavenly, a four-year-old daughter of American Ideal trained by Mike Deters for owner Barbara Jensen, was fourth early as Keystone Christa took the field to the opening quarter in :28 before the favourite Mach Me Not took over and posted panels of :57.1 and 1:25.4. Out with 5/16ths remaining, Winbak Heavenly used her brilliant rally to score in the final few yards.
Second choice in the betting, Winbak Heavenly paid $4.40 to win.
Racing resumes Saturday night at Pompano Park with a 7:30 p.m. post time. Prairie Jaguar and Northern Companion will, once again, duel for supremacy in the feature.
(Pompano Park)