by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Tater Twister, chewed up and spit out last week starting from the outside post, took advantage of the coveted five post Tuesday night (Jan. 24) to score a gate-to-wire win for Mike Simons, stopping the timer in 1:53.4 in the $12,000 Open Handicap Trot at Pompano Park.

Skip Smith photo

Tater Twister scored a sharp 1:53.4 win in Pompano Park’s Open Trot on Tuesday night.

The gallant 7-year-old gelded son of ABC Garland pushed the Hummer Starting Gate out of the way at the start and clocked panels of :27.1, :56.4 and 1:25 before a :28.4 finale held off the late surging Rockn Stien, handled by Peter Wrenn, by a neck. Massive Lightning, with Mickey McNichol handling the lines, was a fast closing third while Gold Savage finished fourth. Swan Handicap finished fifth, picking up the nickel, after the second choice, Massacaia, made a miscue leaving to finish last in this classy sextet.

An hour after the race, driver Mike Simons related, “Last week, I was reading the story about Tater being ‘chewed up and spit out’ and with this great post, I was going to try and not let that happen again. I thought if I could get enough of a jump on Pete’s (Wrenn) horse (Rockn Stien), that we had a chance to upset the applecart here. His horse raced giant last week and I thought he was the one to beat here.

“Actually, when you think about it, my Tater was six lengths faster than Pete’s horse during the opening quarter and his was 5-3/4 lengths faster than us the final three quarters. That was the difference at the end — a neck!

“Murph (trainer Mike Murphy) knows how to train one and I am happy and lucky that I am sitting in the bike when the real test comes. It was a great win for the horse and a great birthday present for Mike — it’s his birthday today!”

Owned by Imogene Rhule along with Geneva Stewart and Barbara Murphy, Tater Twister now is two-for-three in this young season, good for $12,000. Career-wise, Tater Twister has 18 wins and bounty of $125,801 to go along with his mark of 1:53.2 taken at Pompano two starts back to kick off the new year.

As third choice in the betting at 9-2, Tater Twister rewarded his faithful with a mutuel of $11.80.

The $10,000 Open 2 Trot went to Ruddy Rusty for Ricky Macomber Jr. in 1:55. The 7-year-old chestnut gelding won a brief early tussle with Cashahallic to take command around the initial turn and then went on to post panels of :27.4, :56.4 and 1:25.1 before a final :29.4 sprint home sealed the deal by 1-1/2 lengths over the late closing Groovey Kid, driven by Wally Hennessey. Cashahallic, with Aaron Byron in the bike, finished third after being prominent all the way while Kabu finished fourth. Unitaliano Bi picked up the minor award in the field of seven after a backside brush that left him 1-1/2 lengths away turning for home.

Trained by Jamie Macomber for owner Kelly Ford, Ruddy Rusty won for the second time this season in three starts to send his bankroll to $8,770 during this young season. Lifetime, Ruddy Rusty has banked $166,813 to go along with his 1:53.4 mark established two starts back. Off as the 9-5 second choice, Ruddy Rusty paid $5.60 to win.

There were toteboard fireworks on Tuesday night at the track when there were multiple winning tickets on the 50-cent Pick-6, each worth $7,854.75.

The track also announced that there will be a $25,000 guaranteed Pick-5 pool based on a Tuesday carryover of $6,217. The Pick-5 covers races one through five.

Also, the track’s Super Hi-5 finale has a carryover for Wednesday night of $24,682. With that pool expected to exceed $30,000 on Wednesday night, the Super Hi-5 jackpot is claimed when there is one unique ticket sold on the winning 20- cent combination selecting the first five finishers in order.

Post time for the Wednesday program is set for 7:20 p.m.