Pure Barre, part of a powerful Tom Gonsalves entry, conquered five rivals and a sloppy racing surface to win the $10,500 Open 1 Handicap Trot on Wednesday night at Pompano Park.
The five-year-old Classic Photo mare, owned by Gonsalves and driven by Kevin Wallis, used her usual stout closing kick to edge past Ill Tell You What (Dave Ingraham) to win by three parts of a length in 1:56.1. Shes All In (Rick Plano) was a fast-closing third and a length away from the winner on the wire with Blushing Hanover, the other half of the Gonsalves entry, fourth. Dream Lake picked up the final cheque while the pacesetting Lady Deda D finished last after cutting fractions of :28, :58.2 and 1:27.1.
Pure Barre (pronounced Bar-Ray) trailed her rivals for the first half-mile before tilting out on the backstretch and following the live cover of Ill Tell You What heading into the final turn. Straightening away for home, Ill Tell You What took a clear lead, but was no match for Pure Barre’s knockout punch of :28.2.
After the race, Wallis said, “This mare loves to race off the pace. I was a little concerned when the half was so slow, but she handled the track very well and was able to get by them late. The only thing wrong with her is that I don’t own her!”
The win pushed her lifetime earnings over the $100,000 mark ($103,675 to be exact) and proved to be her ninth lifetime success in 63 starts.
Pompano Park’s “trifecta of special events” gets underway with Sunday night racing returning to the South Florida throughout the month of March. Post time will remain at 7:05 p.m. Also, the famed announcer Larry Lederman will be high atop the Pompano oval giving his legendary and witty race calls on Sunday, March 3 and Monday, March 4. The third part of the “track trifecta of special events” takes place this coming Monday with the innovative Sunshine Pro-Am challenge featuring the best drivers -- professional and amateur -- from Pompano Park and Cal-Expo in a multi-race series.
(Pompano Park)