Lareau Scores 1,000th Victory

Being atop the drivers' standings has never mattered to Gaston Lareau, but just the same he was relieved to get the 1,000 lifetime win milestone out of the way

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Perhaps reflecting a common occurrence in his career, he reached the four-digit career win total in the first race of the Monday program with a pocket trip longshot score at 22-1. Lareau was teaming four-year-old Wewering-Walhalla trotting mare Pretty Girl for owner-breeders Sandra and Richard Dunmire of Fort Myers, FL and trainer Kim Sears.

"This was quite a while coming and I'm glad to get it out of the way," said Lareau following the victory. "Being at the top of the catch drivers' list has never been most important to me. I'd like to think I'm a bit of an old fashioned horseman that puts the horse and its well being first. I hope when people think of me they see they can trust me to do the best for the horse and that I'll bring them back a horse for the next week. I'd like to think I have a good way with two year olds and young horses too.”

Although at age 49 his win total in the bike is far from overwhelming, you have to see Lareau often to completely understand his approach and value to the industry. In particular at Pompano, there are few drivers more patient that consistently put double and triple digit odds longshots into exacta and trifecta tickets like Gaston Lareau does. His career purse earnings in the bike stand at more than $4.5 million. On the training side, the man hailing from Longueuil, QC, known on the Pompano backstretch as "Gas", has sent out 322 winners for more than $1.4 million.

"I would say the biggest career influences on me back in Quebec were my dad and Gilles Gendron," Gaston adds. "I really enjoyed working and racing alongside Gendron, he is one of the best ever to come out of Quebec in my opinion and he's still going strong at 66 years old. Last year he went past 7,000 lifetime winning drives and he is a master at how to rate a horse. Very seldom will you see me down to drive horses meant for the front end. I get a lot of longshots and I really enjoy bringing them from off the pace. It's quite a year for milestones for me with making it 25 years of racing at Pompano, reaching 1,000 lifetime driving wins and I turn 50 years old on the May 24 weekend. I'm very happy to be making a living this way and I hope I can keep doing so with my patient way of doing things for many more decades too."

New Lighting Looks Great

Viewers of the Pompano program trackside and at remote locations may have noticed a change when the field came out for the first race post parade for the Monday, February 21 program. A substantial capital expenditure has been completed with an upgrade of the track lighting to the latest technology.

"Wow it's really a huge improvement and I've had a lot of great comments about it here trackside too," says trackside handicapper and Assistant Race Secretary Steve Carpenito. "I'm certainly no expert about candle power and light meters but the track lighting, and especially the stretch drive is much, much brighter. This lighting is certainly the equal of the best at any track I've seen in my travels.”

Yet another new wrinkle this week is a purse increase from $14,000 to $15,500 for the top trot on the Wednesday, February 23 program since the race has attracted a 10-horse field for the first time this meet.

(Pompano Park)