Amateur drivers Tommy Santeramo and Gary Barbere each made it to the winner's circle breaking long dry spells on Saturday night (March 19) to help spark a $1,175 carryover on Pompano Park's Pick 5 and a guaranteed pool of $7,500 for the Sunday Pick 5 at the South Florida oval.
Santeramo cleverly guided the 10-year-old Imminent Response to a 12-1 upset in the Saturday night opener -- that son of Oaklea Julian hit the board for the first time this year in nine starts and returned $26.20 to his faithful. It was Santeramo's first win at an extended pari-mutuel facility since October 13, 2012 when he guided Speedy Samadhi to a victory at Pompano Park.
Barbere, who returned to the racing wars after a five-year hiatus, had his charge, Vacation Day, charging fastest of all in the lane to cap off the Pick-5 at odds of 33-1, initiating a carryover of $1,175 and a guarantee of $7,500 for Sunday's Pick-5 covering races one through five at Pompano. Trained by Marc Major for Michael and Diane Norcross, this 10-year-old son of Dream Vacation won for the second time this semester and 21st time career-wise, giving Barbere his first win since April 20, 2007. Vacation Day lit up the tote with a $68.80 mutuel.
Both Santeramo and Barbere are members of the Florida Amateur Driving Club, which has donated over $160,000 to worthy charitable organizations since their inception as a result of the generosity of their membership donating all driving fees for the club's causes.
Also on Saturday night, St Pete Star, Mr Massino, Boli and RockGroupie were among the winners.
The 12-year-old warrior St Pete Star ($4.00) earned his 56th career victory in scoring a 1:53.3 win for Ricky Macomnber Jr. Trained by Paul Holzman for owner Melvin Fink, St Pete Star pushed his lifetime bounty to $635,328 with the win.
Gary McDonald's Mr Massimo ($5.60) went a brilliant 1:51.4 journey -- a seasonal best -- in earning his 30th career win. The time was accomplished on a track pelted by heavy rains just hours prior.
Paul and Patricia O'Neil's Boli, trained by Dan Hennessey, returned to the racing wars on Saturday and promptly pinned a handy win on his competition, hitting the wire in 1:55.3 for Wally Hennessey, now just 21 wins away from 9,000 lifetime trips to the winner's circle.
Finally, Rob Hoffman's Rock Groupie ($26.40) came from "out of the clouds" to win the Super Hi-5 finale. It was the first win of the year for the five-year-old daughter of Rocknroll Hanover.
The Super Hi-5 now boasts a carryover of $87,287.21 going into the Sunday night's program. This 20-cent based wager requires the selection of the first five official finishers in order with the entire jackpot waiting to be claimed when there is only one winning ticket holder. In the case of multiple winning tickets sold, half of the current night's net pool is shared by the winners with the other half then added to the carryover pool.
With Pompano Park's Pick 4 unsolved on Saturday night, a $3,590 carryover has spawned a $20,000 guaranteed pool for the Sunday night Pick 4 (races six through nine) on Sunday.
Post time Sunday is 7:30 p.m. with Panocchio in action against Southwind Amazon and Dedis Dragon, among others, in the $15,000 Open Handicap Pace.
(With files from Pompano Park)