by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — It’s not often that a $4,000 claimer takes the top headline over any Open event but that was the scenario at Pompano Park on Wednesday night (Feb. 25) as Acton Onelasttime took the $11.500 final of the Optimist Late Closing Final for $4,000 claiming pacers in the astounding time of 1:51.3.

Skip Smith photo

Acton Onelasttime was a 1:51.3 winner in the Optimist Late Closing Final on Wednesday night.

The 6-year-old son of Rambaran, claimed just one week ago by Kevin Wallis, let American Gold and W F N battle for supremacy through a :26.4 opener and then made a sharp quarter move to the top and recorded panels of :54.3 and 1:22.4 en route to a :28.4 finale to score by 8-1/4 lengths over W F N (Mickey Mc Nichol). Allamerican Extra (Aaron Byron) was third with American Gold and Elkhorn Damien annexing the final two awards in the field of nine.

The victory was the 26th in 89 lifetime starts for Acton Onelasttime and proved to be his richest career payday. The time of 1:51.3 also annihilated his former mark of 1:54.

Mused Kevin Wallis after the race, “Gee, he won himself out in one week — 1:51.3! He had been off for some time (since last July) and was just getting back. He won two starts back in a ‘4’ (claimer) in 1:54.3 so I decided to take a chance and claim him in his next start. The early pace was hot so I thought there might be a breather during the second quarter so that’s when I sent him. When he got started, he forgot to stop…pretty amazing!”

Acton Onelasttime pushed his 2015 scorecard to 4-2-1-0 with the win, good for earnings of $8,950 and $82,118 lifetime. As the 3-5 choice on the toteboard, Acton Onelasttime paid $3.20 to win.

In the $12,500 Open Trot, Bloodstockshalltab, deftly handled by Ed Hensley, took top honors for the second week in a row with a 1:54.4 win measuring three-quarters of a length over the fast closing Its Payday Friday (Dan Clements).

This 5-year-old son of Cantab Hall left half-heartedly, letting Holy Halibut rush to the top early before going into full throttle around the initial turn to secure the lead prior to the :28 opener. A :30 second quarter breather actually sealed the deal as Hensley sent his charge grinding through a final half of :56.4 for the repeat.

Nothinbutanallstar (Mark O’Mara) finished third after trying to apply a tourniquet on the leader around the final turn. Holy Halibut did finish fourth in his first start back in four months. Coco Lindy picked up the nickel in the sextet.

After the race, driver Ed Hensley said, “When I was able to grab a hold of him once we got to the top, that helped a lot. When a trotter of his caliber gets to the half soft like that (:58), it’s usually a good sign…for the leader, that is! He was getting stronger and stronger all the way home.”

A recent purchase by Hensley, Bloodstockshalltab now is 5-3-1-0 for the new owner, good for $20,842. The win also pushed his lifetime earnings over the $200,000 mark — $201,587 to be exact. Bloodstockshalltab paid $3.40 to his many faithful.

The co-featured $10,000 trot went to Winemaster Hanover, with Dave Ingraham, pulling off a gate-to-wire upset at 16-1.

The 5-year-old son of Donato Hanover had a clear lead throughout much of the journey — the winning margin a half-length over the late surging And Heez Perfect (Bruce Ranger) in 1:55. My Revenuer (Tom Sells) was a fast closing third while Buddy Hally rallied form a miscue early to finish fourth. Majestic Won finished fifth in the octet after a backstretch brush that left him two lengths back of Winemaster Hanover around the final turn.

Trained by Randy Bickmore for owner Kevin Gee, Winemaster Hanover now has $16,012 on his card after his third win in six starts this year. He has banked $86,268 lifetime. Winemaster Hanover paid $35.40 to win.