Duc Dorleans conquered eight tough rivals, the nine post and an "off" track on Saturday night and extended his winning streak to four for Donald Dupont in Pompano Park's $14,000 Open Handicap Pace.
The five-year-old son of Shanghai Phil, once again, was given an early tussle by Fancyfreeshark, handled by Bruce Ranger, through an opening quarter of :27.4. But, once on top, he had things fully under control through subsequent panels of :56 and 1:24.4 before streaking home in :27.1 to seal the deal measuring three parts of a length over the Fancyfreeshark with Neptune, driven by Aaron Byron, rallying for third after pacing the fastest final quarter in the race (:26.3). Cadillac Phil finished fourth while Rajis Blue Line picked up the "nickel."
In a post race interview, Dupont said, "Yes, we had the outside post, but the trip tonight was a bit easier than last week because we didn't have any incidents around the opening like last week, when there was a breaker early. Once we got to the top and the half was in :56, I was confident he could carry it all the way."
Owned by Gestion C. Levesque 2005 Inc. along with Les Ecuries Orleans Inc. of Quebec, Duc Dorleans won for the fifth time in eight starts this year to boost his 2015 bankroll to $36,260. He has now won 22 of 66 lifetime starts and $452,107 to go along with his Pompano Park mark of 1:49.
As the 6-5 toteboard favourite, Duc Dorleans paid $4.60 to win.
Two other Pompano Park "favourites" were in action on Saturday night and each came out on top in their respective events.
Phil Coleman's Cruizin K C made his 2015 debut after a two month vacation and made his patented three-wide surge around the final turn to circle the field and win in 1:52.4 for Mike Micallef.
The seven-year-old son of Mach Three was his usual relaxed self early on, but paced his final three-quarters in 1:23.4 to score by one and a quarter lengths over the late-closing One Lucky Dragon, handled by Matt Romano, with pacesetting Always N The Money, driven by Peter Wrenn, third. Four Socks and Hillybilly also picked up cheques in the field of nine.
Cruizin K C now has $135,408 in career bounty and paid $5.60 to win as the favourite.
Northern Companion, trained by Howard Klohr for owner Dorothy Zarza, came from well off the pace to gobble up his rivals in the lane to score a 1:53 win in the Super Hi-5 finale.
Handled by Dave Ingraham, Northern Companion unleashed another one of his eye-opening sprints to the wire to score handily over Hands Off Frank (Aaron Byron) with G P S Legacy (Kevin Wallis) next. Histoire Eternelle and McGreat completed the Super Hi-5 order of finish, good for a consolation payoff of $295.83 for the 20-cent ticket. The carryover going into Sunday's racing card is now over $22,000.
Also, the Florida Amateur Driving Club made another of their charitable contributions on Saturday night--this one to Bit-By-Bit, an organization specialization in Therapeutic Riding for those who have suffered from disabilities. Irag War Veteran Steve Ligeikis accepted the award on behalf of Bit-By-Bit, with Viet Nam veterans and Amateur Drivers Billy Muggleston and Joe Pennacchio making the presentation along with several other drivers.
Finally, Heather Vitale paid a visit to Pompano Park on Saturday night and even called the second race on the program.
(With files from Pompano Park)