Talk about a sweetheart of a night on St. Valentine's Day!
Nichole Harness (yes that is her last name), a third generation horsewoman from Beaver, Ohio, got to fly for the first time on a jet plane, got to swim for the first time in an ocean and also scored her first pari-mutuel harness racing victory Saturday at Pompano Park.
Harness won the fourth race second division of the Mildred Williams Driving Series for women. She rallied Rif Raf Star past pacesetter Caseys Bonanza in the stretch and drew off to win in a time of 1:56.2. Caseys Bonanza was second with Cash In Your Chips third.
“This has been quite a weekend,” Said Harness, age 22. “How exciting to be able to win in my first race ever here.”
In the second race first division, a $7,000 trot, Muscle For Hire and driver Kelly Case made a three-wide move on the final turn and pulled away from the field to win in 1:59.3. Southern Beauty was second with pacesetter CSI Mrs Lavec third.
For Kelly Case, who competes at Pompano Park , it was her 764th career win.
The Mildred Williams Driving Series, in its fourth year of competition, competes at more than thirty tracks across North America . All of the women competing donate their winnings to the tracks local charity. Pompano Park raised more than $2,500 from the event that went to the Gilda’s House of South Florida, a free community center for cancer victims.
The fastest mile on the evening took place in the third race $16,000 Open Handicap Pace as Vapor In The Wind and driver Ricky Macomber Jr. enjoyed a pocket-trip behind I Can Only Imagine, who cut fractions of :26.2; :54.3 and 1:22 before Macomber pulled the pocket and shot by the leader to win in 1:50.1. Sahara Hall was second with I Can Only Imagine third.
It was the fastest mile this year at Pompano Park and the fastest mile on any five-eighths mile track in North American in 2009. Owned by the Tanah Merah Farms of Springfield, IL and trained by Dick Macomber, Vapor In The Wind is a five-year-old gelded son of Cole Muffler. He has now won six of his last seven starts.
(Pompano Park)
I would like to thank
I would like to thank Pompano Park and Mr Steve Wolf for their great hospitality the weekend of Feb 14, 2009. Especially, thank the Mildred Williams Driving Assoc. for inviting me to participate in such a great organization and the connections of Rif Raf Star. My trip to south Florida was GREAT!!
What an outstanding race for
What an outstanding race for an upcoming driver!! The Mildred Williams series is for a great cause and the women seem to enjoy very much competing againist one another. I wish more tracks in NA would get on board; this would be great PR for the driving series and local cancer associations.