Rajis Blue Line, handled by Andy Santeramo, dug in late to score a courageous win in Pompano Park's $9,000 Winner's Over feature pace on Saturday night (June 27).
The seven-year-old son of Artsplace, owned by Souren Hovsepian along with trainer Rod Lorenzo, had to survive four separate incidents during the mile before stopping the timer in 1:51.2.
Abreathofreshart (Wally Ross Jr.) was second in the mile while Northern Companion (Tom Sells) finished third. Whos Your Maddy and Histoire Eternelle were next in the sextet while Freeneasy Hanover was doomed at the start after a miscue leaving.
When the gate sprung, Histoire Eternelle (Post 5) was on the engine along with Rajis Blue Line (Post 6), with the former battling the latter through a demanding opener of :26.3 before Rajis Blue Line took over a few strides later. That was the first incident.
Incident number two was that there was not much of a let-up going to the half, with the mid-mile timed in a harsh :54.4 with Histoire Eternelle not in the garden spot...but not for long.
Heading to turn three, Histoire Eternelle was out moving and putting the pressure on the leader past the third station in 1:23.1.
In the lane, Rajis Blue Line put away the challenge of Histoire Eternelle, but Abreathofreshart found some room in the lane to close in on the leader during the final stages of the mile -- that was incident number four.
But Rajis Blue Line was up to the task and responded with a :28.1 finale to hit the wire a half length to the good.
In a post race interview, Santeramo said, "They threw everything but the kitchen sink at him tonight, but he just kept digging and digging all the way home. He was very brave tonight."
In achieving his fourth win of the year in 22 starts, Rajis Blue Line sent his seasonal bounty to $41,166 and lifetime earnings to $215,866 to go along with a Pompano Park mark of 1:51 on his resume.
Pompano Park returns on October 4, 2015 with a 126-day meeting.
(With files from Pompano Park)