Rockntouch, driven by Mickey McNichol, used a furious stretch drive to nail Here Comes William, handled by Donald Dupont, right on the wire to take Pompano Park's $9,500 Open Handicap Pace on the Sunday harness racing night, covering the mile in a lifetime best 1:52.
Trained by Odell Thompson for the Fred Monteleone Stable and Salvatore Promuto, this four year-old altered son of Rock N Roll Heaven was the beneficiary of suicidal early fractions–:26 and :54.3-to score by a head.
Goldstar Raider with Wally Hennessey in the sulky, finished third, just a neck off the winner while Abreathofreshart, last until mid-stretch, finished fourth, 1¼ lengths away. Northern Companion, prominent the entire mile, finished fifth in the field of nine.
Providing the early fireworks was Heartfelt (Walter Rodd, Jr.) who blasted out of the gate from post position eight to engage Sir Globalop Z Tam (Andy Santeramo) in a fist fight through that aforementioned hot opener of :26.
Northern Companion (Dave Ingraham), on the prowl early from the outside post nine, eventually settled in third while Here Comes William, also looking for an up-close spot, wended his way into fourth.
As Heart Felt continued to blaze around the oval to the :54.3 half, Northern Companion was on the move again with Here Comes William following the live cover and Goldstar Raider now third over with Rockntouch anxiously following into the outer flow, as well.
With three quarters in 1:22.4, Northern Companion surged on even terms with Heart Felt with Here Comes William charging three deep, Goldstar Raider fanning further out and Rockntouch widest of all in a cavalry charge to the wire.
After the event, driver Mickey McNichol related, "Sometimes things just go your way and tonight it did just that. I wasn't going to get mixed up in that early scuffle because I would have taken a chance of being hung out to dry.
"Of course, the hot pace helped. When I saw :54.3 at the half, I was just following some live cover. I was still fourth over but much closer as the field tightened up turning for home.
"My horse found his bets stride when it counted and that was that."
For Rockntouch, it was his second in in a row and sixth this year in 12 starts, good for $22,874. Lifetime, the four year-old has $68,760 on his scorecard to go along with his new lifetime mark.
As third choice in the wagering pool at 5 to 1, Rockntouch paid $12.00 to win.
In the co-featured $8,500 Pop Up Series race-off, Scofanman, driven by Walter Ross, Jr., closed from sixth and last at mid-stretch to score by a half-length over One Eyed Alley Cat (Dave Ingraham) in 1:53 for his initial win of the year.
Onlythetuffsurvive (Kevin Wallis) finished third, 1¾ lengths back, while Well To Do and Fly Away picked up the final two awards in the sextet.
Again, the pace was extremely hot as Wild Bill M took command just a step or two shy of the :26.2 opening panel and continued on through subsequent splits of :54.1 and 1:23 with Onlythetuffsurvive on the attack turning for home and One Eyed Alley Cat also surging.
But not even these two could stall the rally of Scofanman, who closed fastest of all to gain the victory.
Trained by Veral Bowman for the consortium of Arnold Merola, Kathleen Merola and Robert Barnello, the victory prompted trainer Bowman to say, "Well, he sure picked a good time to win his first race of the year!
"He's been knocking at the door the last few weeks, so it didn't surprise me that he raced so well tonight. Wally (driver Ross, Jr.) drove him nicely, too."
Off as the 5 to 1 third choice in his sextet, Scofanman returned $12.40 to win.
Yet another highlight on the Sunday night card was in the Florida Amateur Driving Club trot as Gimme The Loot ($5.80), driven by Leon Cable, scored a repeat win in 1:59.2, holding off the determined late bid of Zeitgeist (Dein Spriggs) to win by a head. Magic Cheque (Joe Pennacchio) finished third while Chaplin Hall finished fourth. Total Freedom picked up the nickel.
After the event, the Club made a generous donation to "A Second Go," a charitable organization founded less than one year ago helping cancer patients make the transition from "fighter" to "survivor." The charitable organization, founded by cancer survivor Kelly Sudell, 28, arranges for therapeutic sessions, spa services, nutritional and yoga sessions enhancing the lives of these survivors.
The F.A.D.C. presented a check to Kelly, vaulting their contributions over the $170,000 plateau.
Racing continues Tuesday night at Pompano Park with post time listed at 7:30 p.m.
by John Berry for Pompano Park