by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — On an evening where the track condition at Pompano Park shifted from fast to good to sloppy to good to sloppy during the racing program, Kevin Kelly’s grand filly, Gold Star Briana, remained perfect for her career — now 12-for-12 — highlighting the Sunday (Oct. 16) 14-race program.

Gold Star Briana, a sophomore trotting filly by Basil trained by Dan Hennessey, was driven by brother Wally Hennessey and toured the sloppy oval in a lifetime best 1:57.3, scoring by 6-1/4 lengths over Trotting Missmissy (Marc Major) and All Star Fame (Sergio Corona) with Trottime Fool and I’m For Sale completing the roster in this fifth leg of the Sunshine State Stake for 3-year-old trotting fillies.

Away carefully in her event, Gold Star Briana stormed to the front from five lengths back once they straightened away after the :29.1 opener and proceeded to clock panels of :58.3 and 1:28.2, sealing the deal with a :29.1 finale. The filly now has career bounty of close to $75,000 with about six weeks of the lucrative stakes season ahead.

Said Hennessey after the race, “You know, this is the first time she has faced conditions like this so I thought I’d be careful early and wait until we straightened away to send her. She had to have trotted :28 and a piece (actually :28.2) to make the lead and was a perfect lady all the way. I am proud of the way she performed in those conditions.”

For the second straight week, Gold Star Briana was 1-20 and returned $2.10 to win.

Also on the card was the Sunshine State Stake for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings and it was Thundercrest, a son of Crest, who scored in 2:03.4 after very crafty handling by Dustin Ingraham. Thundercrest pinned a 1-3/4 length defeat on the late charging Fifty Fifty Ninety (Jason MacDougall) with Savin Rock (John Campagnuolo) next. Last Chance Fame and Rexamillion were four-five in the sextet.

At the outset, Thundercrest was in a brief war with Rexamilion but put the latter in the pocket before putting on the brakes and waltzing over to the opener in :32.2 and the half in 1:04. On the backside, Rexamillion left his cozy pocket but made a miscue three-eighths out and Thundercrest sprinted clear by six with a :29.3 third panel with Fifty Fifty Ninety in pursuit.

Thundercrest coasted home from there, prompting Dustin Ingraham to say, “I really didn’t want to be on the front end but he (Thundercrest) was a bit headstrong leaving and I didn’t want to shut him down early. He’s still very green — he didn’t race as a 2-year-old — and he’s learning, but once I got over to the half in “4,” I felt confident that he could go all the way. He not only battled the competition, he handled the elements, which just may have been the biggest competition.”

Thundercrest paid $3.00 as the 1-2 favorite.

Two other Sunshine State Stakes events were held off the betting card highlighting 2-year-old trotters with Azzaro and Atlantic Crest reaching the winner’s circle.

Azzaro, driven this night by Wally Hennessey for Jay and Kim Sears, led every step of his mile, pinning a half-length defeat on I’m Done (Tom Lehmann) in 2:04 –:29 off fractions of :30.3, 1:02.4 and 1:35.

The Proud Bushy colt now has a 5-3-2-0 career scorecard against archrival I’m Done, whose record is 5-2-3-0.

After the event, Hennessey said, “I guess it’s become quite a rivalry between these two and both seem to have equal talent.”

The second non-wagering event was contested in a driving rainstorm and despite the demanding conditions, Sergio Corona’s Atlantic Crest was a gate-to-wire winner in a lifetime best 2:01.1, her victory margin almost 10 lengths over Prairie Pixie (Mike Deters) with Bonnie Blue Banker (Rob Hoffman) third in the trio of juvenile fillies.

The daughter of Crest completed her journey off of fractions of :29.3, 1:00 and 1:30.3 as she notched her second straight win, improving on her previous best winning mile of 2:01.4.

In Pompano Park’s Open I Handicap Pace, Sing For Me George picked up his third straight win — this one in 1:52.4 — after exploding in the final sixteenth to score by 3-1/4 lengths over All Stienam (John MacDonald). Winyard Hanover (Brad Kramer) was next after a rugged first over journey where he stuck his head in front at mid-stretch. Team Captain and Safe Harbor earned the minors in the sextet.

Trained by Paul Bernardo for owner Joseph Martinelli Sr., Sing For Me George was driven by Kevin Wallis and left with alacrity to take an early lead before yielding to All Stienam prior to the :28 opening panel. After a :57.1 half, Winyard Hanover went first up on the backside to engage All Stienam in war, reaching the third station in a picked up 1:25, leaving Sing For Me George bottled up in third. In the lane, Wallis found a seam, swung widest of all and blew by with a :27.3 finale of his own.

Sing For Me George, a 7-year-old gelded son of Bettor’s Delight, was winless in 16 starts before coming to Pompano Park but won an Open 3 event handily in 1:53.1 and then an Open 2 event in 1:53.2 before stepping up to the top rung of the ladder. Sing For Me George now has a lifetime bankroll of $396,086. As the 4-5 favorite, Sing For Me George paid $3.80 to win.

Finally, in the Super Hi-5 finale, one lucky patron had the 7-4-1-8-5 winning combo, which paid $10,286.62 for the 20- cent investment.

Racing continues on Tuesday night with Open trotters in the spotlight. Post time is set at 7:20 p.m.