Buck I St. Pat wins Mack Lobell final

Buck I St. Pat displayed why she is expected to be a predominant force in this year’s older trotting mares division when defeating eight male rivals to take the seventh annual $54,800 Mack Lobell Trotting Series final at Pompano Park on Monday in 1:54.3.

Driven from post nine by Dave Palone, Buck I St. Pat was content to settle in fifth place through the early stages of the race as first Battleshoe Victor (Bruce Ranger), and then Indian Hill Rocket (Kevin Wallis), took the field through opening fractions of :27.4 and :57.1.

“I had my eye on Kevin (Wallis), and if he got off the gate on the right foot, then the best thing for me to do was to find a spot,” Palone said following the victory. “It’s not fun starting from out there, but Don Harmon (with Rompaway Wally) was content to let me in and follow me, and I honestly thought he had the horse I needed to beat.”

After waiting along the pylons for the opportune time to move, Palone angled Buck I St. Pat to the outside on the second turn, and the mare charged aggressively to the front, seizing control of the race as the trotters made their journey down the backstretch.

“I let my mare march to the lead knowing that Kevin would probably be waiting,” Palone said. “Once I made the front and I knew that I had left Don’s horse first-over, I was pretty confident at that point.”

With the top spot firmly in her grasp, Buck I St. Pat quickly opened up on the field, reaching the three-quarters marker in 1:25 before entering the stretch with a 5 ½-length advantage.

The daughter of Jailhouse Jesse was never presented with a challenge down the lane, coasting uncontested through the final yards to score by 2 ½ lengths while missing the track record for an older trotting mare by one-fifth of a second.

“She just got off by herself and kind of played for the last sixteenth,” Palone said. “If I had known she could have got the track record, I might have let her go a little bit more at the end, but I was very happy with her. She’s just a wonderful mare to drive.”

Buck I St. Pat returned $3.40, $3.20, and $2.20 for the victory. Gale Warning (Wally Hennessey) paid $22.80 and $11.80 for second, while Rompaway Wally brought in $3.80 for third. Indian Hill Rocket, Cisco Hall, O-Georgie, Dunkster, Battleshoe Victor, and Railee Possible completed the order of finish.

Owned by Howard Taylor, Edwin Gold, Abe Basen, and Ron Fuller, and trained by Mickey Burke, Buck I St. Pat has prevailed in 23 of 45 starts during her career, and now boasts a lifetime bankroll of $630,253.

The mare captured an opening leg division of the Mack Lobell Series on Feb. 18, but was absent when the second leg was contested on Feb. 25.

 “She’s only got so many starts in her,” co-owner Basen said. “We thought there would be no problem giving her a little time off and skipped the second leg so we could get her sharp for the final.

“She seems to be minding her manners a bit more this year,” Basen added. “And we’ve got a great team behind her, both trainer and driver. From here, it’s on to the Classic Series.” (Pompano Park)

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