by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — My Revenuer, again handled by Brad Kramer, scored his second straight victory in Pompano Park’s Open Trot, this one with an enhanced purse of $15,000 on Tuesday (Feb. 2).

Skip Smith photo

My Revenuer, driven by Brad Kramer, scored a repeat victory in Pompano Park’s $15,000 Open Trot on Tuesday night.

The 8-year-old altered son of Revenue S used identical tactics as in last week’s win, lolly-gagging at the back of the pack early before beginning his jaunt forward around turn two and grinding forward until the job was done inside the sixteenth pole, stopping the timer in 1:54. Royal Max, making his Pompano Park debut, finished second, three-parts of a length away for George Napolitano Jr., while Winding Hill finished third for John MacDonald, almost four lengths away. Cashahallic, last halfway through the mile, finished fourth and She’s All In picked up the nickel in the talented sextet of trotters.

At the outset, it was Uriel leaving with alacrity from the outside post to take command early with She’s All In settling in the garden spot and Royal Max third on the outside and gunning for the top spot and reaching the lead after an opening panel of :27.1. Royal Max continued to lead the way past the half in :56 and still enjoyed the top spot — although seeing pressure from Winding Hill — past the third station in 1:24.1. Meanwhile, My Revenuer was following Winding Hill and turning for home was in full throttle as he collared the leaders in deep stretch.

After the event, driver Brad Kramer said, “This was another dream trip for this horse. He was very sharp in last week’s win and maybe even a bit sharper this week as the half was a bit slower than last week but the mile a couple of ticks faster.”

Trained by Leopold Sawyers for owner Tom Petri, My Revenuer won for the 24th time in his career to send his lifetime bounty to $198,827. My Revenuer rewarded his faithful with a $7.60 mutuel as second choice in the betting.

In the $10,000 co-featured trot, Escuela, handled by Ed Hensley, returned to her form of late last season by circling up from far back halfway through the mile to score a photo finish win over favorite Sailer Eddie, driven by Kevin Wallis, in 1:55.3. Lexxis D J, prominent the entire route for Steve Condren, finished third while Diamond Dagger and Mckenzie’s Star earned the minors.

It was Sailer Eddie cutting the fractions of :27.4; :57.1 and 1:26.4 as Escuela dawdled back in seventh through the opening two panels before marching forward on the backside and tilting three wide around the final turn to get into contention turning for home.

From there, as Hensley put it, “She just kept grinding forward until she got it done.”

He added, “She was good last week, too, but was going so fast she made a break turning for home. She was perfect tonight!”

Owned by the Hensleys — trainer Ashley and driver Ed — Escuela, a 6-year-old daughter of ABC Garland, earned her first win of the year and 23rd lifetime to send her career earnings to $173,226. As fourth choice in the win pool at 5-1, Escuela paid $13.60.

Other noteworthy trotting miles on Tuesday night were recorded by Lucid Thoughts and Lugar.

Lucid Thoughts pushed his lifetime bounty over the $250,000 plateau with a 1:55.1 win for trainer-driver John MacDonald. The 8-year-old, owned by the J P Stables, won for the 25th time during a career spanning 164 starts. As the 3-5 favorite, Lucid Thoughts paid $3.20 to win. Gold Savage finished second for Mickey McNichol while Selena picked up the show honors for Kevin Wallis. Highland Yankee and Crazy About NY also picked up monetary awards in the field of eight.

Lugar, trained by Mark Friedman for the Polo Stables, picked up career win number 29 with a very sharp win in 1:56 for driver Mickey McNichol. Making a confident quarter move to the front, Lugar easily repelled Shawnee Magic (Tom Jackson) and Skyway Pippen (Dave Ingraham) to score by two lengths, sending his career bankroll to $227,466. Benns Score Keeper finished fourth while Nomad finished fifth in the field of nine. Lugar returned a mutuel of $5.20 as second choice in the field.

Racing continues at Pompano Park on Wednesday night with a first race post set at 7:30 p.m.