by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — With two classes of the FSBOA Stallion Stakes highlighting the midweek card at Pompano Park, Gold Star Dynasty was in the limelight after a lifetime best 1:56.3 performance in the 2-year-old filly pace while the filly Limelight was creating a dynasty of her own in winning the distaff event for pacing sophomores.

Gold Star Dynasty, driven by Walter Ross Jr., took top honors in the $26,000 Stallion Stakes at Pompano Park on Wednesday.

Gold Star Dynasty, the splendid Six Of Diamonds filly owned and trained by Tom Audley (and family), pushed her lifetime earnings to $22,262 in just five starts with a very sharp wire-to-wire win in the $26,000 Stallion Stakes for Wally Ross Jr. for her third lifetime win.

Taking the lead at the outset from her outside post six, Ross rated the filly to perfection, clocking fractions of :29.1, :59 and 1:29 before sending the lass sprinting home in :27.3, stopping the timer in the aforementioned 1:56.3, annihilating her previous mark by three full seconds.

The highly regarded Paxxie, handled by Bruce Ranger, was second, 6-1/2 lengths away, while Davita and Bob Roberts teamed up for show honors. Arties Diamond Gal was fourth with Creamsicle picking up the nickel.

After the race, driver Wally Ross Jr. said, “This filly likes to be in the thick of things from the get-go…not necessarily on top, but close. Tonight, I thought it best to get her into it early from the outside. She really seemed to relish being on the lead the entire route tonight. I was just a passenger.”

Even money on the toteboard, Gold Star Dynasty was second choice in the betting — Paxxie was 4-5 — and paid $4.20 to her faithful.

Skip Smith photos

Limelight, with Tom Sells in the bike, bested eight other rivals in the $28,500 Stallion Stakes at Pompano Park on Wednesday.

In the $28,500 Stallion Stakes for the 3-year-old fillies, Beauty In The Bridle Stable’s Limelight, deftly handled by Tom Sells, made a quarter move to the top and after a :28.3 opener, clocked subsequent panels of :58 and 1:27 before turning on her after-burners with the filly striding home in :28.3 to stop the timer in 1:55.3. Her margin of victory was 1-1/4 lengths over Marion, driven by Matt Romano. Voluminous, handled by Bruce Ranger, was next. ICU Charlie T was fourth in the mile while Gold Star Jessica picked up the final award in the field of nine.

Limelight has created somewhat of a dynasty in her own right, having swept her four legs of the FSBOA sponsored Sunshine State Stakes to go along with her victory on this night.

After the race, driver Tom Sells related, “She’s a very nice filly…very handy. She is very well mannered and proved that tonight when there was a recall that kept all of ‘em on the track for several extra minutes. I made that quarter move to stay out of trouble and she did the rest…all on her own.”

Trained by Rosie Huff, Limelight won for the seventh time in 11 starts this year, good for $41,145. She’s banked $56,274 lifetime. Favored at 1-2 on the board, Limelight paid $3.00 to win.

Finally, Andover America, the still splendid 9-year-old son of Andover Hall, won for the fourth consecutive time in Pompano Park’s $10,000 top Open trotting event for Bruce Ranger.

Owned by McTrade Enterprises, Andover America led at every marker, clocking panels of :27.4, :57.3 and 1:26.4 before sprinting home in :28.3 to score a rather handy victory measuring 1-3/4 lengths in 1:55.2.

Count Speed, in the garden spot for Wally Hennessey the entire route, finished second with Baby Boy Grin third for Kevin Wallis. The Kept Man and Majestic Won picked up the final two awards in the septet.

In a post-race interview, Ranger said, “You know, I keep saying that Andover may be a step slower than when he was last season — age does that, you know — but he sprinted out of the gate like a youngster tonight…and all on his own. I thought a quick opening quarter like that (:27.4) might leave him a little wanting at the end but he really felt like he wanted to go on and on.”

For Andover America, it was his seventh triumph of the year, sending his seasonal earnings to $45,650. He has now banked $785,890 in his career on the strength of a 57-32-18 scorecard in 152 lifetime starts.

Despite coming into the action with the winning streak, Andover America was allowed to go off at 3-1 and returned $8.20 to win as the second choice.