A familiar face at Ontario venues such as Georgian Downs, Western Fair, Grand River, and Hanover will soon be coming to you instead from Pompano Park in South Florida
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“I visited here three years ago and really liked it so I thought I’d ship down a couple of horses and give it a try like so many Canadians before me have done,” said 51-year-old horseman Lormer McClure of Orangeville, Ont. “I came to see the races here last Saturday night shortly after arriving. Even though Monday’s high temperature was only 68 degrees (20 C.) I’m really glad I came.”
McClure says he’s brought a pair of trotters with him to South Florida. They are two-year-old filly Luvumeanit, a 2010 competitor in the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series circuit, and four-year-old trotting gelding Southwind Vavoom. Lormer owns both in partnership with John McClure of Georgetown, Ont. Perhaps his best known recent starter, pacing mare Shazanorthernbell, has been left back in Ontario in the care of his son Bob.
“If all goes according to plan I’ll have them both trained up and ready to enter within two weeks,” Lormer said. “I’ll drive them both in their first starts here and see how things go, mostly to see how I might fit into the driving colony here. If I decide not to keep on driving them here it sure is good to know that established and talented guys from back in Canada like Dan Clements, Doug Brown, and Wally Hennessey are all here if I decide to go that way."
A decision is pending on whether he’ll be expanding his stable size, and in the meantime McClure is taking full advantage of the lifestyle that goes with re-locating to South Florida.
“Oh yes, the golf clubs are already out and I plan to test my game at the courses that people on the backstretch are telling me about,” Lormer said. “On Monday I was talking with friends back in Ontario and heard about the cancellations of the programs at Western Fair and Northfield Park in addition to school closings due to snow. I’m already glad I made the move to try my hand at Pompano.”
Big Draw Day On Tuesday
The position draw will be conducted on today for the 2010 Super Night at Pompano. The Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association (FSBOA) Breeders Stakes Championships will showcase the best of the state-bred program Saturday, December 11. The eight finals will be contested for total purses of close to $300,000.
The only two year old performer still in the hunt for a $100,000 bonus is trotting filly Seeking Jeanie. The bonus is offered by the FSBOA to the connections of rookie performers that sweep through undefeated in all four Fall Series events.
This is the first week of the new racing schedule through to May 31, 2011, which sees live programs turn to the gate each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday evening at 7:05 p.m. EST. On Tuesday, December 7, an 11-race card is scheduled and there’s a Pick-4 carryover of more than $2,100 offered when that wager starts on the fifth race. The only deviation from the schedule is the addition of a program on Thursday, December 23 with no live racing on Saturday, December 25.
(Pompano)