by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Canadian Touch, off at 10-1 with Kevin Wallis handling the lines, upset the 1-5 favorite Panocchio, driven by Bruce Ranger, in Pompano Park’s $10,000 Open Handicap Pace on Saturday night (May 2), stopping the timer in 1:51.1.

EZ Noah and Matt Romano teamed up to be third while No Bad Dreams rallied for fourth. Smile A Little picked up the minor award in the sextet.

Skip Smith photo

Canadian Touch forged by Panocchio in the final stages to score a 1:51.1 upset win in Pompano Park’s Open Pace.

The 6-year-old gelded son of Camotion, trained by Fred Cohen for Ameer Najor, fresh off of a qualifier after miscues in his two previous pari-mutuel starts, returned to his former sharp form. He darted out of the Hummer Starting Gate and into an early — yet brief — lead, relinquishing the top spot to Panocchio short of the :26.4 opener with E Z Noah settling into third with Northern Companion next.

After the half in a confidently sharp :54.4, Panocchio owned a two length lead on the backside with Northern Companion now on a mild attack and pulling on even terms with Canadian Touch as the field reached the third station in 1:23.1.

Turning for home, Panocchio attempted to protect his advantage but Canadian Touch began gnawing away, collaring Panocchio a sixteenth out and edging to the front, his official margin a half-length on the wire.

For Canadian Touch, it was his 30th success lifetime — fifth of the year — sending his seasonal bankroll to $31,073 and $132,427 lifetime.

In a post race interview, driver Kevin Wallis related, “This is a very fast racehorse. Sometimes, he is very good and sometimes, let me say, not so good! Tonight, he was very sharp…very handy. When he’s on his game, he likes to be close up to the front and that’s where I put him tonight. Panocchio is very tough and I wasn’t sure that I was going to get to him, but Fred (trainer Cohen) had him razor sharp and he sure was on his game tonight.”

As third choice in the betting, Canadian Choice rewarded his faithful with a $22.40 mutuel for their $2 investment.

In Pompano Park’s Super Hi-5, the 5-3-4-2-7 winning combination saw 30 astute handicappers cash in for $184.62 for their 20 cent investment, pushing the carryover for Wednesday’s mid-week program to $186,850, a record offering for the track. Post time for Wednesday is 7:30 p.m.