from harness publicists across North America

Tuesday’s (Mar. 1) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Pompano Park and Dover Downs.

Connor and Portia reach the pinnacle

Pompano Beach, FL — Unheralded driver Chuck Connor Jr. suddenly lost his ability to fly in under the radar with a pair of crafty off the pace wins in consecutive races on the Tuesday, March 1 program at The Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park.

Skip Smith/Lap Time Photo

Pinnacle Portia scored a lifetime best 1:53.1 victory on Monday at Pompano Park.

“Before I got to the track tonight I wasn’t aware of all the details for that $17,500 Drivers’ Challenge here on March 14-16, but I sure am paying attention now,” Connor said after piloting Pinnacle Portia to victory in a $10,000 purse event for pacing mares. “I really enjoy driving this mare, she’s really tough and always tries hard to the finish. It rained pretty hard late this afternoon but this track drains so great and the crew here is just the best. I’m not that surprised to see Pinnacle Portia get a life’s mark (1:53.1), and you probably haven’t seen the best of her yet,” he added of the 5-year-old Artiscape-Frosty Morning mare trained by Janice Connor.

“I think Chuck is a great horseman and he doesn’t get many favorites to drive,” said Robert Lovett of Commack, NY, the owner of Pinnacle Portia. “I have two horses with Chuck and Janice, the other mare I have with them is Oceans Motion. They do a great job. We’ve always thought highly of Pinnacle Portia and she showed how tough she was tonight to dig in and get past C R Hope (Ricky Macomber Jr.) and Eyewitness Account (Wayne Henry) late in the stretch,” Lovett added.

One race before the win in the Tuesday evening feature with Pinnacle Portia, Connor executed a similar winning steer from just behind the leaders with pacing mare Quick Step. The 4-year-old Bettor’s Delight-Penguin miss, trained by Gerald Greer for the Pilgrim Stable of Pompano Beach, FL, caught race favorites Dovetail (Mike Micallef) and MaryMary Fra (George Napolitano Jr.). Connor is in a pitched battle with Joe Pavia Jr., Tom Sells, Kevin Sizer, and David Ingraham for a top nine position on the drivers list at Pompano by the end of the Saturday, March 5 program. The track’s top nine drivers as of midnight this Saturday will square off in a 10 race competition on the March 14 through March 16 programs for $17,500 in prize money, including a top prize of $8,000.

Heading into the Wednesday, March 2 program, there’s a Pick-4 carryover of $4,140 into the 5th race and the estimated pool for that wager is $12,500.

— Frank Salive

Dover Downs
Whether racing on the front-end or off-the-pace, Perfect M Forever has been perfect in her last three races. On Tuesday, March 1, she won the $26,000 Mares Open pace again at Dover Downs. KSJ’s Perfect M Forever was strongest in the stretch this time as Eric Goodell guided the Stand Forever-Perfect Model 6-year-old to her 37th lifetime success. Trained by meet leader Josh Green, Perfect M Forever was a head in front at the wire in 1:52.2. Lightning Treasure (Jon Roberts), a winner of two straight recently, came on to finish second. Itz Cherry Ripe N (George Dennis) was the show finisher in a tight photo.