Cashahallic, knocking at the door in this top class the last two weeks, finally broke that door down on Monday night and won the $10,000 Open Trot at Pompano Park in 1:55.
The seven-year-old altered son of Cash Hall, owned and trained by Richard Silverman, got a picture perfect drive from Aaron Byron as he made a quarter move to the top and led the rest of the journey, pinning a 1-½ length defeat on Pounce Hanover (Ed Hensley) with Uriel (Kevin Wallis) another nose back in third.
As the gate sprung, Pounce Hanover left with alacrity along with Cashahallic with Count Speed into the fray early, only to lose his composure at the opening marker in :28.1. Shortly after, Byron sent Cashahallic pouncing to the front himself and clocked fractions of :57.2 and 1:25.4, feeling only minimal pressure from Uriel around the final bend. In the lane, Cashahallic was never in danger, strutting home a handy winner in 1:55.
“This horse has been giving hints the last couple of starts and I thought I’d try him on the front end this week since he won that way a few starts ago,” said Byron. “He’s handy so he brushed to the top easily and ‘that was that’.”
For Cashahallic, it was his sixth success of the year in 30 starts, pushing his seasonal bounty to $57,773. He’s banked $284,820 lifetime to go along with his Meadowlands mark of 1:54. He paid $3.80.
(Pompano Park)