Bruce Ranger won 13 races during the Saturday, September 5 matinee card at Pompano Park to set a world record for most wins in one day at one track
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Ranger broke Michel Lachance’s previous mark of 12 victories at Yonkers Raceway in 1987 — seven of which were during a matinee program with five more coming at night.
He also established a new standard for most wins on a single raceway program, breaking the mark of 11 held by Roger Hammer and Dave Palone.
Ranger’s heroics came during the 20 race matinee marathon featuring Florida breds in the Sunshine State Stakes for two and three year-olds.
Bruce kicked off the festivities by scoring a sharp 2:00.2--:28.2 victory in a division of the two-year-old filly pace with the Tom Audley trained Isle Of View Too, a daughter of Macadream. Audley co-owns the filly with Randy Laffer and Ellen Huxley Laffer. She’s now two-for-two lifetime and already sports a Lexington mark of 1:55.4.
Ranger also took another division of that same class with the first time starter Help Me Howard, a daughter of Mannart Howard. In a perfectly rated mile, the filly lollygagged through panels of :32.2, 1:03.1 and 1:34 before unleashing a :28.2 final panel to score a handy win in 2:02.2.
The filly is owned by the consortium of Lorenzo, Hancock, Jr., Dobbins and the Pomtambo Stable and trained by Michile Lorenzo.
The Polo Stables' Natural Beauty, also making her racing debut, scored for Ranger in the juvenile filly trot, repelling a late bid from Jeanie Marie (Warren Harp) to score by a half length in 2:04.3.
Ranger’s fourth win on the card came in a division of the two year-old colt/gelding pace when Goldstar Vincenzo, a gelded son of Rock On, scored in wire-to-wire fashion in 2:02.2--:28.3. “Vincenzo” is owned by The Fishman Stables along with trainer Tom Audley.
Bruce also won two other divisions of that same class with sons of Mannart Howard, Diamond Howard and Red Hot Howard, both trained by Michile Lorenzo.
Diamond Howard, owned by the trainer along with Souren Hovsepian, wired his competition in 2:02.3--:29 while Red Hot Howard came from well off the pace and used a :28 final panel to score in 1:59. “Red Hot” is also co-owned by Michile in partnership with Scott Hargreaves.
In the two year-old colt/gelding trot, the “Famously” bred colt Be Famous—yes, he is by Famously—got the picture perfect garden trip before romping to victory for Ranger in 2:07.4. Be Famous is owned by Amante Standardbreds and trainer by Mel Turcotte.
Three year-olds took center stage for, virtually, the back half of the program and the 2008 filly trotting champion, Pearl Of Capri, scored a game 2:01.3 win for Ranger in making her 2009 three-year-old debut.
Owned by F & I Racing and trained by Veral Bowman, Ranger took his “Pearl” to the front from the outside post and set comfortable fractions before sprinting home in :29 to seal the deal. It was the filly’s 11th straight win dating back, of course, to last year.
In the other division for the sophomore trotting fillies, Bks Luv romped for Ranger in 2:05.3, annihilating the competition with a win measuring a tad over 11 lengths.
This daughter of Anythings Possible is trained by Mike Deters for owner Frederick Morosini.
Ranger’s 10th win on the program came in the three-year-old filly pace with the Polo Stables Bling, a daughter of Scoot Outa Reach.
When Ranger took the lines from trainer Mark Friedman, he rated the talented filly through an opening half in a minute flat before letting her sprint home in :58.1--:29 to score a handy win measuring 5-1/4 lengths.
Wins 11 and 12 came in separate divisions of the three-year-old colt pace with R I P Spanky and Storming Howard, respectively.
R I P Spanky, owned and trained by Rosie Huff, used a :57.2 final half on the front end to score in 1:57.2 while Storming Howard used a two-move mile to score in 1:56.4—the margin of victory just short of nine lengths.
The latter is trained by Michile Lorenzo for Rod Lorenzo, William Hancock, Jr., Ciro Gentile and The Pomtambo Stable.
Ranger’s record 13th win came in the final race when he drove Goldstar Rosie to a hard fought victory in the three-year-old filly pace. “Rosie,” a daughter of Rock On, earned her first win of the year for the Fishman Stables, who co-owns the filly with trainer Tom Audley.
Of his record feat, Ranger said, “Well, a lot of it was luck...after all, a lot of the regular drivers like Hennessey and Clements weren’t here yet and I was lucky enough to pick up the drives on these ‘live’ mounts."
Tom Sells won three races on the matinee program (with Tabatha, Cracker Hound and Stiletto Jake) while Bob Roberts (Pocohontas Fame), Terry McIntyre (Cracker Cana), Mickey McNichol (Make Mine A Double) and Dave Ingraham (Be Lachek) also reached the winner’s circle.
(Pompano Park)