Pompano Beach, FL — Amateur driver Dein Spriggs is atop the leaderboard after the first round of eliminations held Sunday (March 20) at Pompano Park to determine who will represent the USA in the Amateur World Cup in Italy later this year.

Dein Spriggs was in the bike as his own The Big Muscle scored a handy win on Sunday night in amateur competition. Jessica Hallett photo.

Spriggs, who came into the event with a .449 UDR, improved on that with a driving double in the three races contested, scoring with his own The Big Muscle ($18.00) in the pentafecta fourth race and returning to begin the track’s Pick-3 by guiding Loyal Fox Hanover ($4.20) to victory.

The festivities kicked off with Robert Krivelin winning the opener of the three race competition with the 15-year-old millionaire trotting warrior Watkins ($15.20), allowed to race in amateur events only after reaching the age of mandatory retirement for pari-mutuel events.

That brave gelded son of Striking Sahbra blasted off the wings and led every stride of his 1:58.2 performance for his 62nd career win, vaulting his earnings to $1,035,783 in an amazing career stretching back to his first win in 2009 and encompassing 362 starts.

Shoshie Deo (Joe Pennacchio) was second followed by Muay Hanover (Jamie Marra) with Better Call Saul (Tony Dinges) and Kaffir Kemp (Larry Ferrari) completing the top five.

Watkins is currently trained by Roger Goldstein for owner Michael Annunziata.

By the way, the last “equine senior citizen” to win at Pompano Park was Frosty Affair, who at age 16 won an amateur event in 2003 for Dein Spriggs.

Spriggs then got the first of his two wins with his own The Big Muscle, trained by Allen Saul. This 10-year-old altered son of Muscle Mass got picture perfect handling from the outside eight post to find a spot in the garden early and then rolled past Noble Legend (Pennacchio) to score by a widening three lengths over the fastest closing Lucky Sevens (Ferrari) with Noble Legend back in third. Beguin Dugoutier F (Ron Cusimano) was fourth while No Wine For You (Anthony Verruso) picked up the final points in the event.

Said Spriggs after the race, “I had to take the chance at the start to find a spot closer up. I sure wasn’t going to get anything being 10 or 12 lengths away early so I decided to leave out of these and look. We were lucky enough to find that close up spot and it worked out great for us. You know the old saying, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained!'”

The Big Muscle earned his milestone 25th lifetime win to send his career bounty to $186,556.

Spriggs returned in the World Cup elimination finale by guiding the Jack Rice trained Loyal Fox Hanover to a narrow win over Wesley Hanover (Krivelin) in 1:58.4, rallying fastest of all in the final stages to nail the win near the line. Fist Fighter (Cusimano) was third after leading halfway through the mile while Groovey Kid (Dinges) finished fourth. The minor points went to P L Jerico (Verruso).

Owned by Team Rice Racing along with Vogel & Wags Nags, Loyal Fox Hanover made his 50th career start a memorable one with his 12th win. He’s banked $164,628 career-wise.

With the final round of competition scheduled for next Sunday, the current point standings show Spriggs in the lead with 29 points, Krivelin next with 23, Pennacchio third with 16 and Ferrari and Cusimano in a dead-heat for fourth at 15.

All of the participants in this event are amateur drivers, defined as such because they donate all of their earnings driving in amateur events for charitable causes which, in the case of the Florida Amateur Driving Club, have amounted to more than $240,000 since its inception.