by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Sir Mammo, patiently handled by Ricky Macomber, pulled off a 19-1 upset win in Pompano Park’s $11,000 Open Handicap Pace on Sunday night (Dec. 17).

The 5-year-old gelded son of Sand Shooter used a blistering late charge to edge by the 1-10 favorite, Panocchio, driven by Wally Hennessey, in 1:52.2 in the final two strides of the mile. Fritzie Pic Up Man, with Mike Simons in his sulky, finished third after a serious bid around the final bend while Sing For Me George, last most of the journey, rallied to finish fourth while Rockntouch picked up the nickel. Drachan Hanover, prominent early, finished last in this classy sextet.

Skip Smith photo

Sir Mammo pulled off a 19-1 upset in Pompano Park’s Sunday night feature.

At the outset, both Rockntouch and Drachan were in full flight early with the former in the lead at the :27.1 opener, Drachan in the garden spot and Panocchio third on the outside and on the prowl for the lead. Three-eighths in, Rockntouch secured the top spot and waltzed over to the half in :55.4 and then repelled the pressurized bid from Fritzie Pic Up Man, who sprinted from fifth halfway through to Panocchio’s saddle pad as the pair raced past the third station in 1:24.1. At this stage, Sir Mammo was second over and fanned widest of all turning for home with his :27.4 finale able to squeak by Panocchio on the line.

The winner is trained by Jamie Macomber for the La Bella Vita Stables and after the event she stated, “Well, you never expect to get by a horse of Panocchio’s caliber but, tonight, we just got a dream trip. It’s as simple as that. I think Sir Mammo likes the smaller sized track here at Pompano. He has raced great in all of his starts here — better than in Indiana over the larger track.”

The win was the seventh of the season in 37 starts for Sir Mammo with this victory vaulting his 2017 bankroll to $61,390. Lifetime, Sir Mammo has $145,193 on his ledger to go along with a 1:51 mark at Hoosier Park.

Racing continues on Monday night with a pentafecta carryover of $5,050.50 awaiting. The Super Hi-5 carryover has ballooned to $10,286 for the Monday card. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.