Lugar, who had been involved in four photo-finish decisions this year — all of which he lost — picked a great time to, finally, win one.
The five-year-old son of Famously took top honors in Pompano Park’s Open I Trot on Wednesday night, eking out a very narrow win in a lifetime best 1:55 for Bruce Ranger.
Owned by the Polo Stables and trained by Mark Friedman, Lugar took command straight out of the gate and wired together fractions of :28.1, :58 and 1:26.3 before sprinting home in :28.2 to hold off the very fast closing My Man (driven by Kevin Wallis) to win by a head.
Ill Tell You What (Dave Ingraham) made a menacing bid on the backside and moved alongside the leader at the three quarters pole, but had to settle for third, a half-length away. Pure Barre was a fast-closing fourth, while Good Luck Penny picked up the nickel in the field of six.
“He was good and he was game,” Ranger said after the win. "We got away with a little something halfway through the mile, but the pressure was severe from the far turn all the way home. He certainly picked a good time to win a photo for a change.”
For Lugar, it was his second win of the year to go along with six second place finishes and a show.
The Open II Trot went to Spin Spanky Spin for Dan Daley, also in 1:55, also a new life’s mark. The seven-year-old son of Conway Hall, fifth halfway through the mile, started grinding forward on the backstretch and edged by the competition late on the strength of a :29.3 finale to garner his second win of the year in seven starts.
Dream Lake (Romano) was second followed by Distracting Beauty (Ingraham). Tamarack Hanover and Commander K followed with favorite Shes All In, off at 6-5 on the tote, sixth.
(Pompano)