by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — It was quite a night for young trainer Maggie Audley on Monday night (Nov. 6) as Gold Star Mysti, a graduate of the Florida stakes program over the past two seasons, earned her “Summa Cum Laude” honors as a 4-year-old at Pompano Park with a thrilling 1:52.4 win for her 23-year-old driver, James Yoder.

And less than a half hour later, the Audley-Yoder combo teamed up again for a win with Gator Boy — his first win in almost four years.

Skip Smith photo

Gold Star Mysti was a 1:52.4 winner on Monday night.

Gold Star Mysti, a daughter of Mysticism, earned the closest of decisions over the late-charging A Wish For Wings, driven by Rick Plano, the margin a scant nose, with the pocket sitting Sterling Electra, with John MacDonald in the bike, third, two lengths away. Goldstar Rockette was fourth after emerging with the lead at the opening marker in :27 before taking the field through subsequent fractions of :56.1 and 1:24.1.

Gold Star Mysti, leaving from the outside post nine, was hustled away from the gate along with several others and settled in mid-pack around the opening turn. On the backside, she rushed up first over, engaged Goldstar Rockette in battle around the final bend, took command straightening away for home and just did hold on.

Trainer Maggie Audley was ecstatic with the win, remarking, “It was her first start here off of a qualifier and I didn’t know what to expect since she hadn’t seen pari-mutuel competition since September. I was really pleased with her performance but it sure was a close one.

“I told Edgar (trainer Clarke of A Wish For Wings) that I was lucky that his mare didn’t sneeze at the wire!”

As the 2-1 favorite, Gold Star Mysti paid $6.00 to win.

Roughly 16 minutes later, the 6-year-old Gator Boy went behind the Hummer Starting Gate in a non-winners of two pari-mutuel races event and roared by his competition in deep stretch to score in 1:55.2 for his first win since Dec. 4, 2013 at Balmoral Park.

The gelded son of Duneside Perch, trained by Maggie for Dale Witcher II of Tatum, Texas, left with a bit of alacrity as driver Yoder searched for a decent spot and found one in fourth as the early fractions were hot — :28.2 and :56.4. He then sat chilly past the third station in 1:25.4, then fanned widest of all in the lane for the win measuring 1-1/4 lengths over Bro Hanover (Mickey McNichol) with Danza (Ray Vizzi) third after looming boldly turning for home. Come On Red was fourth while the 2-5 favorite, Decent Sawyer, picked up the nickel in the octet.

The clocking was a new lifetime mark for Gator Boy with trainer Audley saying, “We met Mr. Witcher (owner) when he bought a broodmare from us out of the Delaware sale the February after dad (Tom) passed.

“We kept in contact and, in conversation, we learned about Gator Boy, who was a large 2-year-old that had a lot of heart and tried hard but had a lot of soreness issues. Instead of pushing him as a 3-year-old, Mr. Witcher decided to bring him back home to Texas, fatten him up and work on his soreness issues.

“In order to earn his keep, Gator Boy started racing on the ‘under saddle’ circuit in Texas and Louisiana where they race under saddle with hobbles on a quarter-mile straightaway — usually only two at a time.

“Earlier this year, Mr. Witcher thought that Gator Boy deserved another chance, so about five months ago, he brought Gator Boy to us and he came along well so we decided that he was worth the investment to get him back to the races. He hadn’t won in several years (almost four) and he’s still learning how to get around the turns, but he has a great attitude and he is happy doing his job.”

Gator Boy’s mark, prior to his Monday night win, was in a Springfield qualifier as a 2-year-old — 1:56.2. Gator Boy was 7-2 in the morning line but went off as the 8-1 third choice and returned $18.00 to his faithful.

Trainer Maggie Audley, by the way, whose stable consists of mostly Florida bred stakes horses, now has a .481 UTR average, after a 2016 year where she batted over .500.

As she says, “I learned my lessons well because my dad taught me well!”

Racing continues at Pompano Park on Tuesday night with more than $100,000 up for grabs as the FSBOA Stallion Stakes continues. Post time is 7:20 p.m.