A total donation of cash, horses and merchandise valued at more than $20,000 from horsepeople and the public at Pompano Park is expected to arrive on Tuesday, December 15 to the victims of the Ohio barn fire
at Lebanon Raceway.
"The Florida Breeders were really great about integrating the auction of the whips I'd collected and donated into Sunday's annual yearling and mixed sale here," Pompano-based trainer John Hallett said. "The whip from the late Stanley Dancer's last lifetime win topped them all and it brought a price of $400. The whip autographed by John Campbell brought $175. We didn't get a chance to auction Ron Pierce's whip from the Meadowlands Pace win with Art Official until late in the sale, so it brought only $75 when the crowd size was down. The auction went really great though, we even had folks participating from South Carolina. The total from the whip auction and cash pledges was over $2400."
Additionally, horseman Tom Harmer organized an equipment collection for those in need at Lebanon Raceway.
"The area in front of Tom's barn here at Pompano had a huge collection of donations," Hallett observed. “The count on that came in at seven race bikes, seven jog carts, 20 complete sets of harness, five trunks, and 30 water buckets. Combine that with the fact that four horses were also donated to the Ohio relief effort, including The Ideal Aries and Supreme Harmony donated by Tanah Merah Farms. It's a bit tricky to estimate the value of those horses and some of the used stuff, but all told with the cash from the whip auction, the four horses and all the equipment, we're proud to say the value of Pompano Park donation would top $20,000.”
The donation by Tom Harmer won't stop there after his rig is unloaded in Ohio. His staff will then be going on to Harmer's northern base in Chicago where it is expected that more horses and equipment will be donated to the Lebanon Raceway barn fire relief effort.
Popfinger's Rookies Highlight Monday Card
A pair of maiden two year olds trained by William Popfinger turned in impressive winning performances on the Monday evening, December 14 program at Pompano Park. The 73-year-old horseman makes his winter home at Lighthouse Point, FL.
Hanks Kid, a Bettors Delight-Hanks Girl two-year-old gelding topped the NW1 class to start the Monday evening proceedings. Wally Hennessey was in the bike to engineer the 1:57.1 pocket trip win for owner Henry Spierer of Fort Lee, NJ. The pacesetter Dontbreakmyheart with Bruce Ranger persisted for second with Smarty Smiley and Gaston Lareau closing for third.
Popfinger's other winning charge on the card was with Its Ideal Hanover. The two-year-old Western Ideal-Its A Trick miss carried a claiming price of $16,500 for the first time and she jetted to the front from post nine to outstep all rivals in 1:58.2, also with Wally Hennessey in tow. Popfinger shares ownership with Michael Cashman of Ft. Lauderdale on Its Ideal Hanover. Carah T with Richard Simard was a hard closing runner-up with Sixxpak in rein to Bruce Ranger holding third.
(Pompano Park)