Goldstar Thumper and Warlock took top honours in their respective Stallion Stakes at Pompano Park on Saturday night while Lyons Johnny roared home a seven length winner in the $10,000 Winners Over Pace.
First, the F.S.B.O.A. Stallion Stakes were contested in the two non-wagering events prior to the betting card. In the $20,000 opener for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings, Warlock, handled by Wally Hennessey, took the lead right out of the blocks, carved up panels of :29.3, 1:00.3 and 1:31.1 and sealed the issue with a :28 finale, stopping the clock in 1:59.1.
Trained by Kim Sears for owner Jay Sears, now recovering from a serious training accident last week, Warlock pinned the three and a half length defeat on arch rival Tough Issue (Tom Sells) with Gold Star Kenny P (Mickey McNichol) completing the trio in the field.
For Warlock, an altered son of Six Of Diamonds, it was his fourth win in eight lifetime starts, sending his earnings to $21,351.
In the $22,000 event for the three-year-old pacing colts and geldings, Goldstar Thumper, the newest acquisition of the Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, paid immediate dividends when he got a picture perfect drive from Rick Plano to score by a length over the fast-closing Quincy (Bryce Fenn) in 1:54.2. Hillybilly (Wally Hennessey), who cut the fractions of :28, :57.4 and 1:26.4, finished third while Jose Lightning completed the quartet of sophomores.
"Dick [new trainer Macomber] asked me if I'd drive the colt since I drove him last start a couple of weeks ago," said Plano in a post-race interview. "He raced darn good going first up, but just couldn't crack into that :28 final quarter. I knew he had some gate speed so I left out of there and found the garden spot back of Wally's horse [Hillybilly]. When I asked him around the final bend, he responded like a good horse does. He probably paced his last quarter in :27.2 or so."
For Goldstar Thumper, a son of Rock On, it was his very first win of the year in six starts and sent his 2013 bounty to $15,940.
In the Winners Over pacing feature on the betting card, Lyons Johnny, driven by Wally Hennessey, roared from third on the backside to the lead and went on to score a resounding seven length win over No Monkeys Allowed (Kevin Wallis) in 1:52, a new lifetime mark. (He missed a 1:51 mark last week by a head.) Neptune Blue Chip finished third while Hurrikane Scotty J and Oozies Bad Boy pick up the final two awards in the field of seven. B N Bad, cutting sharp fractions of :27 and :55, wound up sixth.
Owned by trainer Shane Arsenault, Lyons Johnny won for the 15th time in his career and sent his lifetime earnings to $153,659 ($29,741 this year).
The five-year-old son of Mach Three was the public choice on the toteboard and paid $4.20 to win.
(Pompano Park)