The home field advantage at the Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park provided the edge for 48 year old John Campagnuolo of Loxahatchee, Florida to win the opening event of the year for the C.K.G. Billings Harness Driving Championship Series for avid amateur drivers
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"I talked about it with Larry Silber the owner and trainer of Southern Joy before the race, and this was the best case scenario we could think of," Campagnuolo said of his pocket trip win with the seven-year-old Mr Vic-Bonnie Bettina mare. "We thought the race would go right around 1:59 and she has some tactical speed, which is better than most of her recent lines show. It's a real thrill to win this one at home," he added, alluding to the fact he is also a member of the Florida Amateur Driving Club. The runner-up spot in the $7,500 event went to driver Simeon Hunsdon with Ranger One.
The only female driver in the race, Gro Formia, almost engineered a major upset when her attempt to front end the field just missed with 12-year-old veteran Battleship.
"He actually hung on better than I expected him to," Formia said after she cut the mile past the three-quarters in 1:28 and eventually finished third in the 1:59.1 mile. "Really it wasn't on my mind that I was the only woman against eight male drivers. My only thought was, somebody has to cut the mile and we made some equipment changes to improve this horse tonight, so it might as well be me out front."
Peter Gerry, President of the Delvin Miller Harness Drivers Association which sanctions the Series couldn't have been more upbeat about what lies ahead in 2010 even though his mount, Sturdy Falcon, finished last in the field of nine in the Pompano event.
"This was just a great start to the Series and the horsepeople here were so good to us," Gerry said in his live trackside TV post race interview. "I think we returned all the horses to their connections just as we found them before this great race. All told this year we expect to have between 75 and 100 member drivers signed up. We're going to compete at between 35 and 40 venues with close to 50 total events. All of the drivers' commissions go to the Harness Racing Museum and Hall Of Fame at Goshen, New York so we're expecting that about $25,000 will be contributed this year," Gerry added.
The Pompano wild card race is the only Series event in the month of April. In May, there will be five contests for the members in each of the Eastern and Midwest Regions. "We'll be extremely busy and going hard for seven months right through to the end of November," Gerry said. "This 29th season is going to be a great one for the C.K.G. Billings Harness Driving Championship Series."
Gurfein, Brittany Farms Sweep Late Closer 1st Leg
A pair of the newly implemented spring season late closing series in South Florida had the open round go the starting on the April 23 program.
Three-year-old fillies trained by Ron Gurfein and driven by Bruce Ranger for owner-breeder Brittany Farms of Kentucky swept both $8,000 divisions of the The Longshot Trotting Series.
Secret Magic, by Cantab Hall-Chorine Hanover, remained undefeated in three starts this year with a 1:58 tally. Yankee Manny, with Dan Clements, was second and Bought Twice, with David Ingraham, was third.
Crown Laurel, by Cantab Hall-Winters Crown, won her second straight start to kick off her 2010 campaign in 1:58.2 over Stylish Lad, in rein to Tom Sells, and Nobell Prize, with Miriam Toland in the bike.
There were also a pair of $6,500 divisions in the opening leg of the Spring Training late closer trotting series.
Borga Crash, a three-year-old Windsongs Legacy-Michele Lavec colt, romped home in 1:58.2 with Frode Fladen in the sulky for owner-trainer Tommy Andersson. The other division went to a hard closing Like A Gator, a three-year-old Like A Prayer-Las Ventanas gelding driven by Wally Hennessey in 1:58.3. Kim Sears trains Like A Gator for Flordia owners Mary Birkhold, George Birkhold and Jay Sears.
The $15,000 Mares Open Handicap Pace on Friday night saw Flip For Love upset Im Just Special for a second consecutive week. Wally Hennessey rallied Flip For Love to the outside in the final half to finally wear down Im Just Special in the closing strides. The five-year-old Riverboat King-Triple Flip mare is trained by Dan Hennessey for New York owners Garry Greenhouse, Harvey Friedman and Ron Rubinstein. She earned a life's mark of 1:52.2 on this 79 degree South Florida night for her seventh win in 15 trips this year. Major Trap, in rein to Dan Clements, was third.
(Pompano Park)