Match Race Set For Pompano Closer

One of racing's great and rare spectacles, a match race, has been carded for Saturday evening, July 28, as a highlight of the closing program of the 2011-2012 meet at The Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park.

The combatants for the two-horse competition are Northern Companion and driver Robert Hoffman drawing post one against Neptune Blue Chip and driver Bruce Ranger in post two. Northern Companion, trained by Howard Klohr for owner Dorothy Zarza of Lake Worth, Florida, is a 10-time winner from 23 starts at the South Florida plant in 2012 for earnings of more than $45,000. Neptune Blue Chip competes for trainer Jim McDonald's Pacing Pretty Stable of Ft. Lauderdale and co-owner Ciro Gentile of Boca Raton, and is an eight-time winner from 26 starts this year for more than $37,000 in 2012 earnings.

The match race was a collaborative effort of Racing Secretary Greg DeFrank, Assistant Race Secretary John Berry, and the track's Director Of Racing Operations, John Yinger.

"I did an informal poll of a lot of people who have been around Pompano for decades, and nobody has a recollection of a match race being staged here ever before," Yinger says. "We thought it would be an interesting attraction for our final card of the meet that might give people something to talk about in our short dark season until racing resumes on September 19. Of course we don't expect it to be anywhere near the stature of the Probe versus Park Avenue Joe race-off in the Hambletonian or anything like that, but it will be something different for Pompano nonetheless."

Post time is 7:05 p.m. on Saturday evening at The Winter Capital Of Harness Racing for the final card of the season which began last September 21. The match race attraction, carded as the third race, is scheduled to turn to the starting gate at 7:41 p.m. The purse distribution for the $7,500 contest will be 70 per cent to the winner and 30 per cent to the runner-up.

(Pompano Park)