by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Cascata and Goldstar Raider were victorious in their respective divisions in the opening leg of the Midnite Hardy Late Closing Series at Pompano Park on Monday night (Feb. 1).

Cascata, an 8-year-old gelded son of American Ideal, was last halfway through the mile but rallied late with a :29 finale to nail the photo finish win in 1:52.2 for Dave Ingraham, subbing this night for owner-trainer-son Dustin Ingraham. Cascata’s winning margin was a neck over Van Gundy Hanover (Rick Plano) with Bold Willie, cutting panels of :27, :55.1 and 1:22.3, third, just a nostril back in the picture. Mr Right Now was fourth after being prominent in the garden spot all the way while Mystical Valentine picked up the nickel in the sextet.

After the event, driver Dave Ingraham said, “He’s just a rugged war horse. He’s got a lot of starts under his girth — almost 200 — so I don’t use him too hard early, hoping for a lively pace. We got it tonight going three-quarters in (1):22 and a piece and he picked up the marbles at the end. It was an ideal trip for him.”

Cascata now has 33 wins in his 191 career starts with earnings of $155,239. It was the initial victory for owner-trainer Dustin Ingraham since he claimed Cascata at the end of last year. As the longest chance in his field at 8-1, Cascata paid $19.00 to win.

The second division went to Goldstar Raider, with Brad Kramer in the bike, scoring in his debut for new owner-trainer Mike Sweeney after a claim last week. This 7-year-old gelded son of Rock On scored in a three horse photo — his winning margin a neck — over Beach Blast, who in turn was a nose better than St Pete Star with the mile timed in 1:53.1. Fly Away, cutting sizzling panels of :26.1, :55.3 and 1:23.2, finished fourth while A Weekend was fifth in the field of seven.

In winning for the 26th time in 99 lifetime starts, Goldstar Raider pushed his career bounty to $154,953. As the 3-1 third choice, Goldstar Raider paid $8.20 to win.

Tuesday night’s program features a pair of carryovers since both the fourth race Pentafecta and the Pick-5 went unscathed. The Pentafecta fourth for Tuesday’s card has a carryover of $2,198 and has a guaranteed pool of $10,000 while the Pick-5, with its $3,948 carryover, has a $20,000 guaranteed pool. Post time is set for 7:30 p.m.