Pompano: Record handle, top drivers headlined Sunday card

The Pompano Park tote-board practically exploded on Sunday night as a mandatory payout in the track's Super Hi-5 and the Miller-Tetrick Annual Pro-Am event took center stage.

Handle was an all-time record $1.36 million, including a record pool in the Super Hi-5 in excess of $385,000, sending that total pool with the carryover soaring over the $540,000 plateau.

Though the prohibitive 1-to-10 favorite Prairie Panther was an easy winner in the Super Hi-5 finale, there were 247 winning tickets sold on the winning 7-4-6-3-10 combo, each producing a handsome $1,926.34 for every 20-cent ticket.

The annual Miller-Tetrick Pro-Am Challenge was contested at the South Florida oval with the David Miller team edging the Tim Tetrick team 122 to 84 in the four-race event benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation and New Vocations. Each charity received a $5,000 donation from the Florida Amateur Driving Club, sending their total donations over $210,000 since their inception.

Tetrick started the festivities when he reached the winner's circle with Alessandro Spano's Chocolate Xplosion in 1:56 3/5, a seasonal best time, over the pacesetting Gespacho (Dein Spriggs) and Undercover Bro (David Miller).

The second Pro-Am event went to the longest proposition on the tote-board, Hoss Cartwright, in 1:59 1/5. Off at 79 to 1, the son of Muscles Yankee provided his faithful with a "Bonanza" payoff of $161.20. Owner-trainer Leon Cable was in the 8-year-old's sulky, which resulted in a $1,621.40 exacta payoff, as well as a trifecta worth $12,908.20.

About 20 minutes later, Alfredo Dream was a photo finish winner for Jeff Schaefer--his first win since January of 2017--at 68 to 1, igniting a win payoff of $139.20 and a 20-cent pentafecta worth $8,564.18. Donna Gilson-Eferstein is the owner-trainer of this son of Infinitif. Global Inspiration (Dave Miller) and Shadow Copy (Ron Cusimano) were two-three in that mile, clocked in 1:59.

The finale went to Keystone Blade, handled by Sky Walker in 1:56, over Fire in My Heart (John Mungillo) and Security Guard (Dein Spriggs). As the favorite, Keystone Blade, owned by the Walker Stable and trained by Walker, returned $5.20 to win.

After the event, both Tetrick and Miller had high praise for the Florida Amateur Driving Club and the Pro-Am event, Tetrick lamenting, "This gives us a chance to give a bit of pay-back to a sport that has been so great to us. As I have said many times, our horses are athletes that give us their all during their career and New Vocation is a wonderful organization that provides great homes and environments for them when their racing days are over. I salute the Florida Amateur Driving Club for all the great work they do."

Miller chimed in saying, "It's just great that the Florida Amateur Driving Club provides us an avenue to give back. In the case of Make-A-Wish, if our efforts make even one wish come true, it's well worth it."

Miller, by the way, was flown in for the event by Dr. Ian Moore, who escorted Miller to and from the event so he could participate.

Racing continues on Monday night with a carryover in the track's Pick-5 of $10,686.22. The wager starts in race 1.

Post time is 7:20 p.m.

-edited release (John Berry for Pompano Park)