Cruizin K C paced his final half-mile in :54.3, circling the field and “cruizin” to victory in Pompano Park’s $11,500 Open Pace on Saturday night in a career-best equalling 1:52.3.
The five-year-old son of Mach Three, leased, trained and driven by Mark O’Mara, scored the win measuring two lengths over Oozies Bad Boy (Rick Plano) with Village Jackson (Kevin Wallis) third. Avantage (David Ingraham) and Mcsocks (Bruce Ranger) picked up the final two cheques in the field limited to seven with the scratch of Bestnotlie Hanover.
Oozies Bad Boy was out of the gate quickest before yielding to 6-5 favourite Mcsocks at the :27.3 opening mark. The latter had relatively soft fractions of :56.4 and 1:25 while on top, but felt the heat from Village Jackson first around turn three and then Cruizin K C, who zipped on by at the top of the lane, and the game was over.
For Cruizin K C, it was his second straight win and fourth success in his past five starts pushing his seasonal bankroll to $16,410. The lightly raced gelding—he has only 23 lifetime starts—has won just a smidgen over $40,000 during his blossoming career.
In a post-race interview, O’Mara said, “When we got this horse, he actually had to be de-programmed. When his career started all he knew how to do was go as fast as he could for as long as he could. Finally, he broke down and the vet told us we should give him six months off. Dad (veteran horseman Frank O’Mara) took the horse under his care and, in just days, he responded to dad’s care and we did a lot of work with him behind the gate so he’d learn to relax. In just a few weeks, we were off to the races. Now the horse has learned to relax. In fact, that’s all he wants to do is relax. He has some motor so when I give him some racetrack he revs up his motor on his own and goes.”
In other Saturday night action, Bet On The Law, handled by Joe Pavia Jr., eked out a narrow score in a conditioned event for his second straight win.
The five-year-old son of Bettors Delight, owned by the consortium of Steven Held, Joseph Barbera, AGC Stables and Dijo Racing, withstood a furious late challenge by McGreat (Dave Ingraham) to win by a neck at the end of a mile clocked in 1:51.3. Atta Boy Dan (Rick Plano) was third followed by Excel Nine (Matt Romano) and Stevie Rays Dream (Wally Hennessey), who picked up the minor awards in the field of seven.
Bet On The Law left sharply from his three post, yielded briefly to Card Hustler (Kevin Wallis), and reclaimed the top spot shortly after the quarter in :27. From there, he clocked panels of :56.1 and 1:23.4 before shaking clear at the top of the lane and then holding off the surging McGreat with a final quarter in :27.4.
In a post-race interview, Pavia said, “He [Bet On The Law] had a week off so he might have been a trifle short at the end, but all in all, I was satisfied with his performance. That other horse [McGreat] really raced good though!”
Bet On The Law is now a perfect two-for-two in 2013, good for $6,500 this year after a stellar opening campaign showing bounty of $223,999.
Mares are in the spotlight as Sunday night racing continues throughout the month of March at Pompano Park. Bombilla Hanover looks to extend her winning streak to four against Gold Star Gidget, Abbey Road Hanover, Fiesta Camcun and Arodasi.
(With files from Pompano Park)