by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Dutchess Seelster, superbly handled by Mickey McNichol, captured Pompano Park’s $8,800 featured winners over trot on Wednesday night (July 10), stopping the clock in 1:55.1.

The 7-year-old daughter of Duke Of York, trained by Don Glowacki for owner John Campagnuolo, bested Tug River Dylan (Wally Hennessey) by five lengths. Like A Gator (Stephane Lareau) finished third with Celebrity Legacy and Lugar picking up minor awards in the field of five.

Skip Smith photo

Dutchess Seelster was a 1:55.1 winner for Mickey McNichol.

Driver McNichol had an inkling to leave from the outside post five but that idea was thwarted when Like A Gator and Tug River Dylan, leaving with posts inside of the Dutchess, battled for supremacy early with Lugar and Celebrity Legacy filling the remaining gaps early.

So, from the back of the pack, McNichol went for the gusto just past the opening panel of :28.2 and brushed right to the front prior the half timed in :58.

Reaching the third station in 1:26.3, Dutchess Seelster stretched the margin with every stride through the lane on the strength of a :28.3 finale for her second win of the year and 22nd lifetime in 95 lifetime starts.

In a post race interview, McNichol said, “With a well balanced field such as this (the longest shot on the toteboard was 9-2) I thought it would be very tough to make up ground from the back of the pack with the others dictating the pace. So, I decided to go for it. If it didn’t work out, I’d still get a check for the owner and, if it did, I’d get a bigger check for the owner. It just happened to work out for us tonight.”

The win was one of three consecutive wins on the card for McNichol, who also scored with the trotter L M Canon and the pacer Seton Hall.

L M Canon scored in 1:56.3 for Mario Dessureault, who trains for owner Jamie Marra Racing, and Seton Hall won for trainer Don Glowacki in 1:55 for his 53rd lifetime win. Robert Law owns this 12-year-old son of Blissfull Hall.

Tom Sells also won three races on the mid-week card including an upset win with Worthy Crown in a prep race for Florida Sunshine Stakes eligibles.

Worthy Crown, off at 14-1, returned a mutuel of $30.20 in defeating 10-1 outsider Railee Kwik (Wally Hennessey) and 28-1 chance Proud Expression (Mel Turcotte) in a lifetime best 1:59.3.

In that event, Goucher, off at a dime to a dollar, made a break vying for the lead and finished last.

Sells also won with Michael Guest’s trotter Sir Tyson and Trifecta 246’s pacer Dandee Diamond.

Sir Tyson, trained by Terry Deters, easily wired his competition by three lengths in 1:57.1 while Dandee Diamond, trained by Eric Beach, came from well off the pace to score handily in 1:58.2.