by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Panocchio and Escuela scored Sunday night (Oct. 25) victories in Pompano Park’s Open events for pacers and trotters, respectively, while Gold Star Briana, Rexamillion, Livy M and Prairie Fortune annexed the blankets in their respective classes of the FSBOA Sunshine State Stakes finals.

Panocchio, driven by Dan Clements, used a :26.4 finale to score a 1:50.1 Open win in his Pompano Park return.

Panocchio, driven by Dan Clements, made his Pompano Park return a winning one with a splendid 1:50.1 win, highlighted by a :26.4 finale, holding favorite Alexa’s Jackpot (Joe Pavia, Jr.) at bay by three-parts of a length. Audrey’s Dream (Ed Hensley), well back early, finished third while Lyons Johnny, saddled with the outside post, rallied for fourth. Whogoesfirst picked up the nickel in the octet.

At the outset, Alexa’s Jackpot and Panocchio were both on the engine when the gate sprung with Panocchio assuming control around the first turn and hustling to the opening quarter in a hot :26.2 with Alexa’s Jackpot seemingly enjoying the garden journey.

Positions were unchanged through a :55.1 half when on the backside, both Audrey’s Dreama and Lyons Johnny brushed forward, reaching the top four as Panocchio reached the third station in 1:23.2. That’s when driver Dan Clements asked Panocchio for his best stride and he got it with a :26.4 sprint home.

A 5-year-old son of No Pan Intended, Panocchio won for the 33rd time during his illustrious career to go along with a mark of 1:49.3. For this season, Panocchio is nine for 26 in the win column, with this victory pushing his earnings to $100,622 for owners Emile Johnson Jr. and trainer Jim Mattison. It was the 14th win here at Pompano Park over the past three seasons.

After the event, driver Clements said, “Man, what a machine this one is. You know, he zipped out of the gate and the opening quarter in getting to the top wasn’t a ‘gimme.’ And he responded when I asked him for a little more!”

As second choice in the betting, Panocchio paid $7.20 to win.

Escuela, meanwhile, extended her win streak to three with her second straight win in the top class, scoring for Ed Hensley in 1:54.1, a new life mark.

The 5-year-old daughter of ABC Garland, owned by the Hensleys — Ed and Ashleigh — let newcomer Pounce Hanover (Mike Micallef) cut the mustard with fractions of :27.3, :56.1 and 1:24.4 with the early fleet-footed Highland Yankee (Aaron Byron) in the two spot, followed by Gold Savage, My Revenuer and Escuela in the field of eight.

Once they straightened for the journey up the backside, Escuela was on the move in a first over jaunt, drawing alongside the leader at the third station. Turning for home, Escuela took command and handily held off the late charging Highland Yankee, who knifed between rivals in the lane to finish second with Pounce Hanover next. My Revenuer and Gold Savage annexed the final two awards.

After the race, Hensley said, “I kinda used the same strategy as last week when she won. After all, what’s that old saying? ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ She raced great again…proud of her.”

Escuela now has a scorecard reading 28-8-3-5 with $69,000 in bounty. As the 1-2 favorite, Escuela paid $3.00 to her many followers.

Also on the card, four $12,000 finals of the FSBOA Sunshine State Stakes were contested with Prairie Fortune continuing his dominance in the 3-year-old trot for colts and geldings.

This son of Arapa Victory swept all legs of this stake with this win measuring almost a dozen lengths in 1:57. Driver-trainer Mike Deters, coming into the action with a 10-7-3-0 scorecard in his seasonal drives here, actually improved on his .867 UDR with the win.

Victory Park (Kevin Wallis) was second with RJ’s Iron Man (Walter Ross Jr.) rallying for third over Harrison. Carter picked up the last check in the sextet of trotters.

Prairie Fortune now shows 10 wins for this semester and $54,446 for Deters, who co-owns with Laurie Poulin.

Gold Star Briana, under the guidance of Wally Hennessey, made a wide quarter move to the top and went on to score a win measuring 7-3/4 lengths in 2:00.1 in her final for juvenile trotting fillies.

The daughter of Basil, owned by Kevin Kelly, swept each of the three legs (one by a disqualification) and now shows a perfect lifetime scorecard of four-for-four.

Trotting Missmissy (Marc Major) finished second while Trottime Fool finished third. Mitzie and Wedding Invitation completed the field.

In the Sunshine final for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings, Rexamillion, handled by Bob Roberts, romped by 8-3/4 lengths in a lifetime best 2:01.1, defeating Trottime Splendor (Hennessey) and Savin Rock (John Campagnuolo) in the process. Fifty Fifty Ninety and Proud Joe T completed the rundown in this event.

Skip Smith photos

Rexamillion took top honors in the Sunshine State Stakes final, stopping the clock in 2:01.1 for Bob Roberts.

Rexamillion, a son of Proud Bushy owned by Richard Dunmire along with Jay Sears and trainer Kim Sears, won for the second time during his brief career of four starts.

Finally, Livy M, also by Proud Bushy, completed her sweep in the division for sophomore trotting fillies by repelling pressure around the final turn and going on to win in 2:00.2.

Owned by Fred Morosini, along with Ken Fritz, Don Fritz and trainer Mike Deters, Livy M used a :29 final panel to score by 3-1/2 lengths over Palm City Slick (Hensley) and Brandy (Corey Braden) — the latter two switching places in the official order of finish when Palm City Slick made a miscue near the wire. Zendaya and Little Misty May earned the final awards in the field of six.

Pompano Park’s next racing night is Tuesday when Godiva Seelster, Just A Bee and Winbak Heavenly renew their rivalry in the Open Pace for mares. Godiva Seelster goes for a repeat win in this event, having scored in a lifetime best 1:50.4 last week. She also looks to stretch her streak of getting purse checks to 70, encompassing her 3-, 4- and 5-year-old campaigns. Wally Hennessey will be back in the sulky for owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil.

Also, Pompano Park’s Super Hi-5 carryover has ballooned to more than $6,000 for the Tuesday card. Post time is 7:30 p.m.