by Michael Costanzo, public relations coordinator, Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Dubbed ‘Gaucho’ by those connected with the horse in his native Argentina, the 5-year-old trotter Chucaro Guadal lived up to that moniker of Argentine national pride at Pompano Park on Wednesday (Feb. 27) when remaining unbeaten in three starts north of the equator following a second race victory in 1:59.2.

Lap Time Photo – Skip Smith

Chucaro Guadal, driven by Leonardo Agusti, scores for the third straight time at Pompano Park on Wednesday.

Guided from post four by Leonardo Agusti, who drove the horse regularly in Argentina, Chucaro Guadal ($3.00) tracked the early leader Blue Ribbon Beauty (David Ingraham) from third place through fractions of :30 and 1:01.1 before angling first-over to grind away at that rival down the backstretch.

After reaching the three-quarter marker in 1:30.2, Blue Ribbon Beauty began to weaken, allowing Chucaro Guadal to pounce on the leader in mid-stretch, charging home to a 1-1/2 length victory with a final quarter that went in :28.4.

Owned by Osvaldo Formia of Delray Beach, and trained by Gro Formia, Chucaro Guadal was acquired in a less than conventional manner from breeders El Cabresto S A of Buenos Aries.

“I talked to some people in Argentina maybe six or seven years ago and told them I would send them a stallion for free, but they would have to pay the expenses to take him,” Formia said following the race.

“It was a Valley Victory horse out of a Speedy Crown mare named Althea’s Crown,” Formia added. “The owners down there told me that the day they got a really good horse out of him, they would send it back to me, and that’s how I got him.”

Chucaro Guadal made his first appearance in the Northern Hemisphere at Pompano on January 25, prevailing by three-quarters of a length. That winning margin grew to 1-3/4 lengths in his next outing on February 8.

“The first couple of times we took him out we knew that we had a pretty nice horse,” Formia said. “I don’t know how good he’ll actually turn out to be, but he seems to have good speed, and at the end of his races he appears to be going strong and doesn’t get tired.”

Chucaro Guadal is slated to make one more appearance in South Florida before heading north to test his mettle against stronger competition over a larger oval.

“I’m probably going to race him one more time down here and then take him elsewhere to see if he can be competitive and race for some more money,” Formia said. “I’ll probably end up taking him to Canada, either Mohawk or Woodbine.

“There’s no sense to work him too hard down here when we can race for a little more money up there, provided he’s good enough.”

Wednesday’s drive was just the second in North America for Agusti, who previously appeared at Pompano Park on March 27, 1998, finishing ninth behind another South American import, Chu Noble Rai Rai.

“Leonardo was up on vacation, and I told him the horse is doing well and he was welcome to come and drive him if he’d like,” Formia said. “I do all the training and pay all the bills, but we are partners on the horse. We take all the expenses out of what the horse makes, and then whatever is left of the profit, we split.”

Agusti was the regular pilot for Chucaro Guadal while the horse competed in Argentina, winning eight of 14 starts.

Pavia set for return to the sulky

Driver Joe Pavia, Jr., who was injured in a three-horse accident at the Meadowlands on June 16, will return to the races at Pompano Park on Friday.

The 47-year-old New York native is scheduled to drive two horses on the 11-race card, with his first appearance coming in the fourth event with Huge Success N, before returning in race eight with Esmeralda Semalu.