Pompano Beach, FL — The “semi-retired” Mickey McNichol hopped back in the sulky for a rare appearance on Sunday night (April 7) and promptly guided Lets Roll to victory in Pompano Park’s $11,000 featured Open Pace.

McNichol all but retired from the driving scene late last semester after a star-studded career that included wins in many of harness racing’s most prestigious events. Still very active as a trainer, delegating the driving chores to the “younger” set, McNichol was asked by trainer Jake Huff to take the lines back of Lets Roll off a winning qualifying effort of 1:53.3.

“Jake asked me to handle him (Lets Roll),” lamented the now 70-year-old, “and I said I would, knowing, of course, that he’s a very nice horse — versatile and fast — great traits in any racehorse.”

Facing a very talented field, including track record holder Panocchio, McNichol sent Lets Roll right to the front from post five, out-hustled Panocchio (post one) when the wings closed and clocked fractions of :27.1, :54.4 and 1:22.3 before a :29.1 stroll home stopped the timer at 1:51.4, leaving Panocchio (Wally Hennessey) two lengths away with Harry Terror (Dave Ingraham), Mc Mach and Windsun Gotham rounding out the top five in the classy septet.

“He did it all on his own tonight,” McNichol said. “I never had to ask him for anything, he just felt that strong all the way.”

For McNichol, it was his 4,759th career win, benefiting owners to the tune of almost $45 million. For Lets Roll, a 4-year-old son of Roll With Joe, it was his fourth win of the year in seven starts, pushing his 2019 bankroll to $19,890 for owners Rosie Huff, Beauty Bridle Racing and Our Three Sons Stable. Lifetime, Lets Roll has a 10-4-2 scorecard in only 27 starts with $71,355 in earnings to go along with his recent Pompano Park mark of 1:51.1. As third choice in the betting, Lets Roll paid $8.20 to win.

Trainer Jake Huff had high praise for his “track-team,” saying, “I have had this horse since he was a baby, broke him and always thought highly of him. And, of course, I have always thought very highly of Mickey, who proved he can still compete with the younger set after all these years. They made a great ‘track team’ tonight, that’s for sure.”

In other Sunday night happenings at the South Florida oval, the Florida Amateur Driving Club had four events on the card with Dein Spriggs, Joe Pennacchio, Ron Cusimano and Nick Coblentz each visiting the winner’s circle.

Spriggs kick off the early Daily Double by steering his own Gespacho ($14.20) to a narrow win in 1:59 after the 11-year-old gelded son of Holy Guacamolie opened up a huge lead while clocking blazing panels of :27.2, :55.4 and 1:27. Alfredo Dream (Jeff Schaefer) was a fast closing second over Lucid Thoughts (Den St. Pierre). Trained by Allen Saul, Gespacho won for the 40th time in a career measuring 192 starts.

Next, Cheeky Little Minx ($6.00), with outgoing FSBOA President Joe Pennacchio in her sulky, scored a gate-to-wire win in 1:59.3, after parking FSBOA’s incoming President, Dein Spriggs, in a fierce duel lasting into the final bend. Geronimo Fame (John Campagnuolo) was second while S J Better Days (Ron Cusimano) was next. Jim McDonald trains Cheeky Little Minx for the Joe P Racing Stable.

Next, Everyone’s Talkin ($4.80), driven by Ron Cusimano, made a sharp quarter move to the front and led the rest of the way in winning in 1:57.2 over Little Big Rigs (Brian Calvert) and Security Guard (Dein Spriggs). Everyone’s Talkin, a recent claim by former owners Carlo Angelillo, Henry Tanzer, Erika Sirianos and Ron Cusimano, returned to the training care of Jake Huff for the win, his fifth of the year and 23rd lifetime.

Finally, Fair Glider ($45.60), given exceptional rating by Nick Coblentz, led every stride of his one mile journey to score an easy win measuring 7-1/4 lengths over favored You Cant Habit (Carl Garofalo) in 1:58.1. Keystone Orion (Leon Cable) was third.

The FADC, having donated more than $200,000 to charity since its inception, added to that total on Sunday night with a generous donation to Bit-by-Bit, an organization that serves special needs of children and veterans using horses as therapy.

Racing continues on Monday with the Super Hi-5 Jackpot carryover now at $86,029. Post time is 7:20 p.m.