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Rebellious returned to the racing wars after being given a couple of weeks off to “freshen up,” and proved that the vacation was well worth it by scoring a 1:49.4 win in Pompano Park’s $10,500 Open I-II Handicap Pace on Monday night (Feb. 15).
The seven-year-old gelded son of Mach Three, owned by trainer Mike Deters and Joel Warner, had Wally Hennessey in the sulky and took charge from post five around the initial turn and carded fractions of :26.3, :55.1 and 1:22.1 along the way before holding off the bid of the pocket-sitting Alluneedisfaith N (Mike Simons) to score by a half length. Ideal Feeling (Rick Plano) was third, three lengths away.
Rebellious, who got into a :26, :53.3 and 1:21.2 war in his last start on Jan. 25 before exhaustion set in, was smartly given time extra time off to “clear his head,” and he came back with his best performance since his return to South Florida in early December.
Said Deters, “He had an extremely tough trip in his last start, so I decided to give him an extra week and turn him out to clear his head. He always seems to race very well off of a little freshen-up time and he was really exceptional tonight. It was a superior effort, and the fact that he dug in when it counted was really impressive in my eyes.”
Driver Hennessey merely echoed Deters' comments by simply saying, "He's just a very special horse!"
The win was the 43rd in 116 career starts for Rebellious and sent his lifetime bounty to $334,706. Despite the three-week respite, he was the 8-5 choice and paid $5.20 to win.
In the $11,000 Open Handicap Trot, Born To Thrive, a gutsy eight-year-old altered son of Swan For All, overcame his assigned outside post and won his third straight Open Handicap Trot, stopping the timer in a lifetime best 1:52.4 — his previous 1:52.4 win was over the larger Harrah's Hoosier Park oval three seasons back.
Born To Thrive used, virtually, the same tactics as in his previous two wins — away near the back of the pack and beginning his grind forward once the opening panel was completed.
The 1-2 favourite, In Secret (David Miller), was second, a neck back of the winner, with Muscles For Life (Wally Hennessey) just another nose back in third in the "bang-bang" finish.
At the outset, an early battle developed as Muscles For Life left alertly to take charge only to yield to In Secret at the opener in :27.1. The latter then took the field to a :56 half as Born To Thrive reached fourth and kept grinding away through a :28.1 third quarter to reach second around the final bend.
Once they straightened away, the determined Born To Thrive kept gnawing away and just got up a stride or two from the finish line.
After the event, Plano lamented, "He (Born To Thrive) is really good now. As you can see, the gets very determined once they straighten away for the wire. He doesn't mind the 'open air' at all and can stay outside all day long!
"You know, he almost died last summer with kidney failure and was sidelined in the hospital for three or four weeks. The prognosis wasn't good at all but he came through that is as good as ever.
"He's just a wonderful horse that's great to be around and a good reason to get up in the morning and go to work!"
Born To Thrive, trained by Plano for Maryann Plano and John Campagnuolo, won for the 43rd time during a career in which he has banked $435,122. Despite his two-race win streak coming in, he was only the third choice in the wagering at 9-2 and paid $11.80.
Record handle at Pompano
Pompano Park, in the midst of a record-breaking season, established an all-time record handle on with $1,608,440 wagered on the 13-race program.
The south Florida oval, which opened in 1964, also has had a record 14 million-dollar-plus handle nights, far eclipsing the entire total over the past 56 seasons combined.
Director of racing Gabe Prewitt attributes the record breaking season to several factors, including the excellent horse population, competitive racing, an excellent driving colony, a loyal fan base and free online programs, among others.
Prewitt remarked, "Several factors, I think, play a role in our success this season. Our loyal fan base is fantastic and they enjoy our wagering buffet, which includes our guaranteed pools on our Pick-4 events. The new Pick-3 has been a hit, as well, and, of course, we offer Pick-5 events, Pick-6 events and the Super Hi-5, which draws a lot of support, especially when the carryover jackpot balloons upwards of $50,000.
"Our racing product has been very competitive with winning favourites under 40 per cent and, of course, that's where our racing office plays such a big role. (Racing secretary) Joe (Zambito) and (assistant) Paul (Clark) do an outstanding job in placing the races correctly and we make sure we don't step on other tracks toes with reference to post times.
"It's a team effort here, and that helps in the success of any business."
Racing continues on Tuesday (Feb. 16) with free programs available on the Pompano website and yet another guaranteed pool — $20,000 — on the nightly Pick-4. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park)