Pompano Park hosted the $12,000 final of the Midnite Hardy Late Closing Series on Monday night and Goldstar Raider took top honours after covering the mile in 1:53.1 under the direction of John MacDonald.
The seven-year-old son of Rock On pinned a defeat measuring a half-length on A Weekend with Steve Condren driving, while Cascata finished third for Wally Hennessey.
Goldstar Raider, hot property lately off of claims the past three weeks, was on the engine from the get-go with A Weekend with these settling in one-two early with Fly Away next and St Pete Star, beginning from the outside post nine, wending his way into fourth through an opening panel in :27.1. Under the line the first time, St Pete Star was on the move and forging forward leaving Goldstar Raider on the lead halfway through in :56.1 with A Weekend and St Pete Star in a virtual dead-heat for second followed by Cascata, following live cover.
Goldstar Raider used a :28.1 third panel to thwart any impending threats through three-quarters in 1:24.2 with A Weekend and St Pete Star still noses apart next and Cascata now fanning widest of all. In the lane, Goldstar Raider was on his way home with a :28.4 finale to hit the wire a half-length up on the late charging A Weekend.
Not only did Goldstar Raider win for the third straight week, it was the third week in a row he won in 1:53.1.
Yet another streak was extended after the event as Goldstar Raider was claimed for the fourth straight week.
In a post-race interview, driver John MacDonald related, “Well, when I looked at the form, I saw that he (Goldstar Raider) had been up close to the pace in his last two wins, so, I said to myself, ‘why fool around with success?’
“I put him on the lead and, when we got to the half, I thought, ‘hmmmm,’ he can get home from here through :56.1.’ He did just that. Another big effort!”
Trained by Marty Fine for the Team Fine Racing, Inc., Goldstar Raider won for the fourth time in six seasonal starts while pushing his 2016 earnings to $16,220.
Lifetime, Goldstar Raider has a 27-19-19 scorecard in 101 career starts and a bankroll of $164,203. He paid $4.20 to win.
Racing continues on Tuesday night with yet another popular “Over The Hill Gang” trot with a field of seven with combined earnings well over $3 million going postward.
On the pari-mutuel side of the ledger, with Monday's Pick-4 unsolved, there is a carryover of $9,143 into the Tuesday program and a guarantee of a $30,000 pool for the Pick-4 covering races six through nine.
Post time is set for 7:30 p.m.
(Pompano Park)