by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — There are dozens of “manias” that are part of society with Beatlemania and Wrestlemania among them. Then there is “hippomania,” a passion for horses.

On Saturday night, Pompano Park will host the “Hippomania” Pace, one of the most highly anticipated matchups in Pompano Park history. The field features a quintet of the best pacers ever to set foot on Pompano Park’s five-eighths-mile oval; in alphabetical order, Duc Orleans, Mr Dennis, Northern Companion, Panocchio and Prairie Jaguar.

Four of the five are seeking repeat victories while the “other,” Prairie Jaguar, comes off a second place effort but is the only horse in Pompano history to record five winning efforts in 1:50 or faster.

“It should be a ‘barn-burner,’” said Mike Deters, trainer of Prairie Jaguar. “Here you have five exceptionally talented horses, each capable of threatening our track record under ideal circumstances. It’s an honor to be included in this group.”

Indeed.

Duc Orleans, the author of 16 lifetime victories, two of which have been clocked in 1:49.2, has been known to pace a final quarter under :26 seconds. Trained and driven by Donald Dupont for owner Gestion Levesque, Duc Orleans grinded out a final half in :54.4 to pin a defeat on Prairie Jaguar in last week’s encounter to push his lifetime bankroll close to $400,000.

The soft-spoken Dupont humbly said, “He sure has come a long way from his first win up in Quebec — 2:05.”

Prairie Jaguar, of course, is having a banner year, having earned more than $90,000 for owners Laurie Poulin and Mike Deters. This Florida bred son of Spy Hard has three sub-1:50 wins, the fastest being 1:49, accomplished on two occasions here at Pompano Park. Trainer Deters has enlisted Aaron Byron to take the lines back of Prairie Jaguar, seeking his 11th win of the year.

Panocchio, owned by Emile Johnson Jr. along with trainer Jim Mattison, is on a roll, having won the last two Open events in which he has competed at Pompano Park. The 4-year-old son of No Pan Intended has won six of his last seven starts and has seasonal earnings of $113,570 to go along with 14 wins this year. Not only does he have a 1:50.4 mark here at Pompano, Panocchio also has a splendid 1:51.3 mark over the half-mile oval at Saratoga.

Bruce Ranger will be back in the bike back of Panocchio and said, “This is one of the handiest horses I have ever driven…two fingers, he’s that handy and he’s very sharp right now.”

Dorothy Zarza’s Northern Companion looks to have “home field advantage” in the select field. Trained by Howard Klohr, “Buddy,” as he is known around the barn, has won 29 of his 37 career successes at Pompano Park. With a mark of 1:50.3, Northern Companion is well known for his explosive brushes and is capable of picking up the pieces off of an anticipated hot early pace. Dave Ingraham will be in the bike back of Northern Companion.

The “unknown” quantity in the field is Mr Dennis, owned by the J L Benson Stables and trained by Joe Sanzeri. Having been competitive in recent Open events here at Pompano, this 5-year-old son of Dragon Again utilized a class dip in his last outing and, after taking command past a blazing :26.1 opener, went on to carve out amazing panels of :53.2 and 1:21.1 to score an open lengths win for Mike Micallef in a lifetime best 1:50.4. Mr Dennis has the rail in the Hippomania pace and could very well dictate the pace.

The Hippomania pace gets an excellent Saturday evening card started as the first race on the program.

Also on tap is the C.K.G. Billings event for amateur drivers. Billings, a wealthy industrialist and noted horseman, invested much of his time and fortune promoting the Standardbred horse and its amateur participants. One of the great horses he owned was Lou Dillon, the first trotter ever to cover a mile in 2:00, that being in 1903.

The Billings series was founded in 1981 and serves as a platform for amateur drivers to showcase the sport of harness racing at participating tracks throughout North America.

Pompano Park’s Saturday program is further enhanced by a Pick-5 carryover (covering races two through six) and a Pick-4 with a patron friendly 12 percent takeout (encompassing races five through eight).

Post time is 7:30 p.m.