by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Pompano Park played host to the FSBOA Stallion Stakes for 2- and 3-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday night (Nov. 6).

Limelight, driven by Kevin Wallis, picked a great time to break her maiden — in the Stallion Stakes at Pompano.

The juvenile contest was split into two divisions with an off-the-card $14,500 split taken by Limelight, as she broke her maiden with a sharp win in 1:57.4 for Kevin Wallis.

Trained by Rosie Huff for the Beauty and the Bridle Stable, Limelight, a daughter of Cracking Light, was away third as the highly regarded J D Eleven Bell’s (Rick Plano) took the lead from the get-go and clocked panels of :28.4, :59.1 and 1:27.2, opening a sizable four length lead at that third station.

But that lead began to melt as Limelight kept grinding away, collaring the leader at mid-stretch and drawing clear late. Mustage Sally (Stephane Lareau) was third with Hawaiian Princess taking the minors in the field of four.

When the gate opened, Limelight had but $390 in earnings for her three starts and when the result was deemed “official,” left with $7,640.

Leftwich photos

Sandalonia, handled by Mickey McNichol, captured her division of the Stallion Stakes on Wednesday night.

In the wagering division featuring a field of six going for a share of $15,000, Heddy Nelson’s Sandalonia, handled by Mickey McNichol for trainer Sandy Hollon, was a gate-to-wire winner in 1:58.1, never having an anxious moment in scoring a victory measuring three parts of a length as the 1-2 betting favorite. Heather, handled by Stephane Lareau, spent her last lap grinding forward on the outside and got up for second over Voluminus (Rick Plano). Gold Star Jessica and La Regina also picked up awards.

Sandalonia, a daughter of Six Of Diamonds, sent her bounty to $16,399 on the strength of her consistent 4-3-2 scorecard in nine starts.

Finally, in the $28,000 Stallion Stake for 3-year-old fillies, Don’t Spank Me, a daughter of Capital Request handled by Bruce Ranger for owners Wayne and Jean Carter (Wayne trains) sent her winning streak at Pompano to three with an eight length trouncing of her foes, capping her wire-to-wire 1:53.4 lifetime mark with a final half in :58 and final panel in :28.

Tashia and Stephane Lareau was second while Full Of Fame finished third. Delray Princess finished fourth while Dandee Diamond picked up the nickel.

After the race, driver Ranger summed up the trip in one word — “smooth!”

Don’t Spank me now has nine lifetime wins in 21 starts with six of those successes coming in 2013. She’s banked $66,687 lifetime.

Mr McRail, off at 45-1 on the Pompano Park toteboard, led virtually every step of the mile to grab top honors in the $11,000 Winners Over trot.

Fern Paquet, Jr. handled the lines of the 6-year-old son of Donerail, defeating Lugar (Tom Sells) by 1-1/4 lengths with House Money (Matt Romano) third. Take Heart and Spring Goal picked up the final awards in the field of 10.

The victory, timed in 1:55.2, was Mr McRail’s fourth of the year in 23 starts and was accomplished despite having drawn the outside nine post.

In a post race interview, driver Paquet said, “You know, in a bulky field with a horse starting in the second tier, I had three choices…one, take back, get away 10th and try and find some live cover; two, leave a trifle and look for a spot in mid-pack somewhere; or, three, go for the gusto.

“Since this horse can leave the gate pretty good — he went a :27 and a piece opener last week — I thought I’d give it a shot and see what happens. As it turned out, there wasn’t much speed leaving and I got to the quarter pretty softly and was able to rate the second quarter.

“I saw Matt (Romano with House Money) coming on the backside so I let him out a notch and he just kept truckin’ right to the wire. He raced great.”

Trained by Barry Probber for Probber Morse Racing and the Unity Stable, the win was worth $5,500, pushing his lifetime bounty just a shade under $250,000.

Even more important for anyone with a wager on Mr McRail, it was worth $92.40, $31.40 and $10.60 across the board and keyed $2 payoffs of $630.40 for the exacta and $1,842.40 for the trifecta.