Hollywood Sign A, the classy Australian-bred Life Sign gelding, led from first long stride to last while winning Pompano Park's $15,000 Open Handicap Pace on Sunday night (April 1).
Superbly handled by owner-trainer Matt Krueger, the nine-year-old Hollywood Sign A ($4.00) started from Post 5 and sawed though panels of :27. :55.2 and 1:24.2. He finished things off with a :27.2 sprint home and won in 1:51.4. Panocchio (who was driven by Wally Hennessey) finished a half length back in second. The Onlyest One (John MacDonald) finished third. Team Captain and Drachan Hanover earned the final awards.
In a post-race interview, Krueger related, “‘Hollywood’ is extremely sharp right now. He's feeling good, very willing and will do anything you ask. The scratch (American Hustle-sick) put us in that great five post here and it was almost as if he wanted to push the (starting) gate out of his way.
"Those fractions are comfortable for a horse of his calibre, so I was pretty confident when he reached the final bend on top.
"He's a happy horse with a great attitude and loves romping in the field and he's shows his appreciation by his performances on the track...a pleasure to be around!"
In the Sunday night Pick-6, there were no tickets sold with all six winners, which resulted in a Monday night Pick-6 carryover of $1,295.74.
Also, there was nary a single winning ticket on the track's Super Hi-5 on Sunday night, thus the carryover has ballooned to $11,118.98 for the Monday program, when racing will resume with a scheduled post of 7:20 p.m.
(With files from Pompano Park)