On a relatively cold evening, Skyful Of Lighters, handled by Dave Ingraham, was red-hot while taking top honours in Pompano Park's Open II pacing feature on Sunday (Nov. 17).
The eight-year-old gelded son of Bettors Delight had been knocking at the door in his two previous Pompano starts, but he out-gamed his competition in a ‘bang-bang’ finish in 1:53.3 on Sunday.
While the margin of victory was an officially a nose, the final clocking was not indicative of the gameness shown by the winner, as he was outside looking in the entire mile – and, in his case, a mile and 30 yards.
Four Socks, with Mike Simons in his sulky, was second after finding a seam late in the journey while Here Come William (driven by Don Dupont) and Panocchio (Corey Braden) finished in a dead-heat for third.
War-No Munn picked up the final award in the multi-million dollar field of nine.
As the wings folded, Four Socks and Here Comes William both left with alacrity with the latter taking charge at the :27.4 opener; with Skyful Of Lighters also on the prowl early from Post 6 looking for a cozy spot that never materialized and he was hung out to dry.
Meanwhile, the 3-10 favourite, Rebellious, away sixth, was following the cover of Skyful Of Lighters halfway through the mile in :56.4.
On the backside, three-eighths from home, Rebellious went on a double-bubble binge as the pace seriously accelerated and even stuck his head in front by the third station in 1:24.2 with Here Comes William still fighting and Skyful Of Lighters still lurking in his shadow.
As a cavalry charge developed to the wire, Skyful of Lighters kept digging and prevailed in the photo finish.
After the event, driver Dave Ingraham said, "He beat some very good horses tonight. The time wasn't that much because of the cold, but he can take a lot of air on the outside. I don't think there was more than a couple of lengths between us all at the end." (There was three lengths from first to last).
Owned and trained by Dustin Ingraham, Skyful Of Lighters sent his 2019 scorecard to 5-10-5 from 33 starts, good for $98,444 and $418,389 lifetime.
As third choice in the wagering, Skyful Of Lighters paid $15.20 to win.
Ingraham had a driving double on the card, as he piloted Thatsjusthowiroll to a narrow win at odds of 38-1.
Owned and trained by Dan Gassien, this five-year-old altered son of Santanna Blue Chip completed the early daily double and was the key ingredient in a Pick-5 carryover for Monday night of $8,532.50. That pool is guaranteed at $30,000.
The only other driving double on the card was achieved by ‘Sky’ Walker, who piloted Thisisshe ($10.60) and Jurgen Hanover ($11.60) to wins their respective Florida Amateur Driving Club events. Walker now has 136 career wins. His Kelly Walker Stable owns both winners.
Dein Spriggs' Sheer Flex took the other FADC event.
Besides the $30,000 Pick-5 guaranteed pool for the Monday program, there is a Super Hi-5 jackpot carryover of $9,369.44.
Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park / FSBOA)