by Steve Wolf, Director of Marketing, Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Headlined by multi million dollar career winners Magician and Plesac, 79 trotters and pacers have been nominated to Pompano Park Harness Track’s two top stakes events, the $250,000 Isle of Capri Pacing Series and the $125,000 Mack Lobell Trotting Series. Both events will be raced during the month of February.

The 2003 Isle Of Capri Pace was won by Corporate Rrraider (1:51).

The Isle of Capri Pacing Series features preliminary rounds for $50,000 on Saturday, February 14, Saturday, February 21 and the $160,000 final on Saturday, February 28 with 47 horses nominated. The Mack Lobell Trotting Series has its preliminary rounds for $25,000 on Friday, February 13 and Friday, February 20 with the $75,000 final also on Saturday, February 28 with 32 entered in the series.

Trotter of the Year in 2001, Magician sports the highest career earnings in either series with $3,579,103 bankrolled for owner William Augenstein of Plainview, New York. Plesac, named after the recently retired top baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Dan Plesac (who is now a licensed harness racing trainer), is a career winner of $2,501,758. Both are nominated for the Mack Lobell Series but have yet to confirm if they will compete.

The inaugural Mack Lobell Invitational Trot took place last year at Pompano Park with a purse of $60,000 and was won by co-track record holder Damon Runyon. He has been nominated for this year’s event after his best season ever in 2003, winning 12 races, setting the track record with a 1:54² mark and earnings of $93,000 for owner Carol Karter of Lake Worth, Florida.

Other contenders eligible for the Mack Lobell include two Australian imports, Trappers Salute N, who tied Damon Runyon’s track record this season and Son Of Flair A, who is unbeaten in his first three starts in the USA, former track record holder Flashy Message, Ichiban and one of the only mares entered in the series, track record holder Lori Louise.

The Isle Of Capri Pacing Series is a wide-open affair headlined by the return of last year’s winner, Corporate Rrraider for trainer/driver Peter Wrenn. Last year Corporate Rrraider upset the field with a dramatic 1:51 neck victory at odds of 18-1 and ended 2003 with his greatest season ever, earning $185,000.

Newcomers to Pompano Park for the event will be The Globe, a $481,000 winner last year that raced against the best pacers in North America and closed out the season winning the $225,000 Matron Stakes at Dover Downs for the Let It Ride Stable of Delray Beach, Florida, David Scharf and Jerry Silva of New York.

Cheyenne Rei, who last week was second in the $114,000 Presidential Series at the Meadowlands, is a career winner of $700,000, and Ashlee’s Big Guy, a $194,000 winner last year, won the $250,000 Classic Series at Dover Downs. He Wants It All raced just 10 times last year but won seven races with earnings of $229,000.

Local competitors include recent winners Cam In Black, Mean St Partners, First Foxy, Mark’s Superstar, Thunder Bay and Mystical Bob.

The final of the Isle of Capri Pace is the richest race of the year at Pompano Park. The race is named after the parent company that owns Pompano Park, the Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc., which owns 14 other riverboat and land based casino properties throughout the mid south, Colorado, Iowa and Grand Bahama Island.

On the night of the final, February 28, the first 4,000 patrons to come to the track will receive a free Isle of Capri Pace tee-shirt and there will be free vacation prize drawings, live Calypso music, food specialties, a live race horse with equipment seminars conducted by the Florida Amateur Driving Club, clowns, free face painting and free Miniature Horse cart rides for children.

Previous winners of the Isle Of Capri Pace include Corporate Rrraider (1:51) in 2003, Mighty Khan N (1:51³) in 2002, Sadies Dreamboat (1:52²) in 2001, Bad Bert (1:53) in 2000 and Parson’s Den (1:49⁴) in 1999, which set the all age and stakes record at Pompano Park.