Arsenal, who fired bullets start to finish in winning last week’s $10,000 Open Handicap Pace at Pompano Park, reloaded and fired a second round of ammunition in scoring a repeat wire-to-wire win for Dave Ingraham in South Florida’s feature on Sunday night (May 28).
The nine-year-old gelded son of Artiscape fused together fractions of :26.3, :56.4 and 1:24.1 before a :28 sprint home sealed the deal by a solid length over Stirling Cadillac, driven by Bryce Fenn. Goldstar Raider, handled by Wally Hennessey, finished third, two lengths away, while Cartoonist finished fourth. Major Deagan picked up the minor award in the quintet.
After the race, Ingraham related, “This was similar to last week’s win but the opener was a bit faster. We did get a nice breather during the next quarter and that helped our cause.
“I chirped at him once on the backside and he revved it up on his own and was strong right to the finish.
“He’s been pretty sharp for a long time now...not too shabby for a “six” claimer back in January!”
Actually, Arsenal has changed hands via the claiming route on several occasions since then with his most recent claim being by his current owner/trainer, Kelly Case, for $17,500.
Arsenal now sports a 7-7-1 scorecard in 19 starts, good for $43,439 in bounty this semester and $463,180 lifetime.
Off at 2-5, Arsenal paid $2.80 to win.
Pompano Park's leading driver, Wally Hennessey, won the final five races on the Sunday program, scoring with Bill Jones ($2.60), Cabo Real ($2.20), Y S Joe ($5.20), Dungeon Dragon ($5.00) and Abresthofreshart ($3.20).
Hennessey now has 262 wins for the meet, a winning percentage of 28.57 to go along with a UDRS approaching .450 in 917 starts.
Racing continues on Wednesday night as Pompano Park closes out its 126 night season with a mandatory payout on the track’s Super Hi-5 -- the carryover being $36,007. Post time is 7:20 p.m.
(With files from Pompano Park)