Purse Increase At Pompano

No complex calculations were needed at Pompano Park when a purse increase went into effect on Monday

, December 20.

"Our race secretary, Greg DeFrank, decided we would make it (a) user-friendly number, so, as of tonight's program, the purse was raised $500 for every race that went to the starting gate," explained John Yinger, the track's director of racing operations.

Percentage wise, the purse increases range anywhere from just over four per cent to almost 15 per cent. In the top classes, purses are up from $12,000 to $12,500. In the lowest non-winners conditions and $4,000 claiming class on both gaits, purses are increased from $3,000 to $3,500.

"These purse increases are in effect for a two-week period and we'll be making a decision about how things will proceed after about January '10," Yinger said. "Greg DeFrank came up with this idea, and I think it's a good one, that we bump up the purses now to add some holiday cheer for our backstretch. It's pretty much a standard procedure that we'll continue to look at things in consultation with our horsepeople into the new year.

"The recent handle trends have been encouraging and our scheduling change to move the Friday programs to Tuesday has worked out really well. With respect to the competitive and entertainment aspects of our on-track product, we think we're continuing to move forward."

Anthony Napolitano: The 'Monday Evening Man'

Although he is a force to be reckoned with every time he's in a race at the South Florida venue, it's no stretch to nickname Anthony Napolitano the 'Monday Evening Man' at Pompano.

On the December 20 card, the former meet champion at Pompano reined in three winners, with a pair of those from his own barn. It certainly proved that his performance one week ago, on Monday, December 13, was no fluke when he was in the bike with five winners and a pair of training victories.

For this week only, there's a scheduling change with a Thursday program set for December 23 and no live racing on Saturday, December 25. The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday programs will all feature 11 races and a top class event for a $12,500 purse. First-race post time at Pompano is always 7:05 p.m. (EST).

(Pompano)