The Sweetheart Invitational Trot and Pace $7,000 events at Pompano Park attracted an excellent cross section of the continent's best female drivers
. In the end a dead heat involving Gro Formia and Jamie Rucker was declared for top prize following the two race competition.
"My mare did everything I asked her to. The trainer of CRs Gift, Gaston Lareau, was absolutely right in telling me she might be able to close the best of all in the field with how good she is right now," an elated Jamie Rucker declared after her 2:01 photo finish decision over Smokey Yankee and driver Miriam Toland in the trotting event. "I tipped three wide early in the final turn and I was way in the pack sitting fourth over. It was a real thrill to get the nod in the photo but I had a good feeling about it."
Same Page, driven by Anita Valstad, persisted for the show position in spite of a parked out trip.
The pacing event for the cast of female drivers was almost as dramatic. It wasn't clear until late in the stretch that 1-2 favourite Trishie Mae would prevail with Gro Formia in the bike. Allee T in rein to Doreen Dailey was a hard-closing runner-up and Fox Valley Magneta held third.
"It did help a bit that I spend the winters here and in some ways Jamie and I had a bit of a home track advantage," Formia said. "Trishie Mae has been racing just great in that ($4,000) level of claiming company and really all I had to do was have her in position with a clear lane turning for home and she did the rest. One other thing about this feels really good, though. It's taken me until well into my thirties but this is finally my first win with a pacer at Pompano.”
The public embraced Pompano's Sweetheart events on the Valentine's program in a big way. In the trot race a total pool of almost $50,000 was wagered. In the pacing race for the female drivers, a single show wager of $6,000 was noted on Fox Valley Magenta from post two with driver Anita Valstad. The mare did manage a third-place finish by a very slim margin.
Scoring for the two race event was awarded based on the common purse distribution percentages. Winners received 50 points, then a sliding scale through the other top five finishers of 25, 12, 8 and 5 points. Finishers out of the top five received 3 points. Rucker and Formia each had a win and a sixth-place finish setting up their tie at 53 points apiece. The roster of competing drivers also included Kelly Case, Laurie Poulin, and Diane Long. The winners received specially engraved heart shaped custom glass trophies and all participants received a large box of premium Valentine's chocolates, presented by Director Of Racing Operations John Yinger.
"This is a real highlight for me to dead heat with Gro and to defend at least a share of this title," Jamie Rucker observed. "It's really great for Pompano to put this on every year, and I know the drivers from up north like Ann Larsen really appreciated the chance for a break from winter. My first love in the business is not catch-driving, but I know I speak for all nine drivers here tonight when I say I really look forward to this event every year."
(Pompano Park)