'Gold' was the theme at Pompano Park on Tuesday night as Goldstar Rockette and Gold Savage shared the limelight, capturing their respective $10,000 Open Pacing and Trotting events.
Goldstar Rockette, the Florida bred six-year-old daughter of Rock On, scored a well-earned win for Kevin Wallis in 1:54.3, pinning a two-length defeat on Shortest Distance, handled by Mickey McNichol, with Dreas Good Powow next, after putting on an eye-opening backside brush that brought her along-side the leader heading into the final turn.
Goldstar Rockette, leaving from post five, briefly engaged Shortest Distance for supremacy early then proceeded to post opening panels of :27.4 and a rated :57.4 half. That’s when Dreas Good Powow, last early on, put on that aforementioned brush to draw on even terms with Goldstar Rockette heading into the final turn with Goldstar Rockette turning back the challenge with a :27.4 backside blast of her own, reaching the third station in 1:25.3.
In the lane, Goldstar Rockette was unrelenting, keeping Dreas Good Powow at bay and holding off Shortest Distance, who edged through along the pylons to garner the place award.
After the event, driver Wallis related, “Lou (trainer Ginesi) has this mare very sharp now. When Dave’s (Ingraham) mare brushed up, my mare just let out a notch on her own to try and thwart her.
“I’ll tell you, this mare knows how to race. She can leave, she knows how to relax, she brushes on her own and she’s mighty tough right now.”
Owned by trainer Lou Ginesi, Goldstar Rockette won for the seventh time this year, sending her yearly bounty to $36,062. She’s just $87 shy of $100,000 lifetime.
As the 1-5 tote-board favourite, Goldstar Rockette returned $2.40 to win.
Gold Savage, strategically handled by Mickey McNichol, played “musical chairs” with the favourite, Go Jesse Go, driven by Kevin Wallis, before taking command after a :27.3 opener and then posting subsequent fractions of :56.1 and 1:25.3 to score a handy two-length win over Go Jesse Go in 1:55.4. Political Foe, with Joe Sanzeri in the bike, finished third, just a lip or two further back.
At the outset, both Gold Savage (post three) and Go Jesse Go (post six) left with alacrity with Gold Savage yielding—but not for long. Just a few long strides later, Gold Savage brushed up to take command with the top pair separated from Political Foe by some five or six lengths early on.
Except for the shouting, it was all over as McNichol kept his charge safely in front the rest of the journey, prompting him to say, in a post-race interview, “I love driving for Mark (trainer Friedman) because his horses are always ready to perform well.
“This trotter gives a good account of himself week after week and he was sharp as a tack tonight—very willing!”
In pushing his 2016 scorecard to 3-4-1 in 18 starts, Gold Savage now has $22,220 on his card for the season and $121,343 lifetime.
As the 6-5 second choice on the tote-board, Gold Savage paid $4.60 to win.
Racing continues on Sunday night with post time at 7:30 p.m.
(Pompano Park)