On Tuesday, February 1, Esmeralda Semalu went down swinging with a valiant effort in what was the last stretch drive of her career, as her time on the track officially came to a conclusion with the performance
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In the end it was millionaire mare Not Enough that got the best of Esmeralda Semalu in her retirement race. She's being sent this weekend to begin her broodmare career with a first breeding to New York stallion Bettors Delight.
"I knew all too well of the reputation of Esmeralda Semalu since I'd driven against her so often over the past four years, not only here at Pompano but also up north at Pocono, too," said George Napolitano after piloting Not Enough to the 1:51.2 win. "She got roughed up early tonight and she was hard to put away in the stretch. I give a lot of credit to Joe (Pavia, Jr.) for the way he managed and raced her and got the best out of her.”
Esmeralda Semalu retires with 95 starts, a box score of 34-16-16 for $424,263 and the Pompano older mares track record of 1:49.4 set in March of 2009. In her last dance she was parked to the quarter in :27 by Im Just Special (driven by Bruce Ranger) and a rating to the half in :56.2. In the third quarter, Not Enough was pulled out from fourth in line and chased Esmeralda down the backstretch in :26.4 to the last turn in 1:23.1. Not Enough finally edged away in the last eighth of the mile with Esmeralda Semalu a solid second over third place finisher C R Hope.
Also on hand for the occasion was the breeder of Esmeralda Semalu, Lucien Paiement, the principal owner and operator of Semalu Incorporated of Quebec.
"I only heard about this through the internet stories and my wife and I decided to take a Florida vacation so we could be here for this," Paiement said in a live post race TV interview. "I think she definitely overachieved in her career although she is well bred. She didn't race as a two-year-old because of a big chip in her knee. I've really scaled back on my operation because of racing being ended in Montreal, but I still breed some for Ontario, New York, and New Jersey. I won't be surprised if she has some really good foals and it will be a pleasure to watch for them.”
A full retirement celebration is planned for the Wednesday evening program for Esmeralda Semalu.
That's 60 For ‘Scotty’
Fourteen-year-old trotter Ashcos Scotty is still going strong in his final season of eligibility for pari-mutuel racing and he earned the 60th win of his career on Pompano’s February 1 program.
The Earl--Sakra Monious gelding came from out of the pack to defeat his $4,000 claiming rivals in 2:00.1 with David Ingraham in the bike. Ashcos Scotty was bred in Ontario by Robbie Mcmillan and Tim Kane, and is now trained at Pompano by Leon Cable for Pennsylvania owner Pete Roccasano. The Tuesday evening win pushed his career bankroll to over $545,000.
First-race post time is 7:05 p.m. (EST) every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at Pompano. Race-night streaming and the replays archive is available for free in the 'racing' tab at theislepompanopark.com.
(Pompano)