After failing in his first four appearances at Pompano Park since shipping down from Ontario in early June, Copper Color put on a show for the South Florida faithful on Saturday when taking the featured $15,500 Winners Over Handicap Pace in a seasonal best 1:51.3.

Driven from post two by Wally Hennessey, Copper Color settled in the pocket during the early stages of the Saturday feature as Welu’s Dreamboat (Brad Hanners) showed the way through an opening quarter-mile that was clocked in a 
swift : 26.3.

As the field exited the first turn and made their way past the grandstand for the first time, Hennessey angled Copper Color off the pylons to march aggressively towards the front, seizing control of the top spot while taking the field through middle fractions of :54.4 and 1:23.1.

After sprinting clear of his rivals through the final turn, Copper Color entered the stretch with a 5 ½-length advantage and coasted unchallenged through the final yards to prevail by three lengths at the wire.

Copper Color returned $6.00, $2.40 for the victory while Sandstorm N (Daryl Bier) brought in $2.60 when closing to finish second. There was no show wagering available on the race.

Owned by Macadream Stable and George Resta, and trained by Jim McDonald, Copper Color halted a 12-race losing streak with his victory in the Saturday feature. The 5-year-old gelded son of Camluck had not visited the winner’s circle since a March 17 victory at Woodbine.

With his victory in the Saturday feature, Copper Color now has seasonal earnings of $67,257 with a career bankroll over $228,000.

The Gator Pacing Series for 2-year-old Florida-bred colts geldings continued on Saturday as two $4,500 second-leg divisions were contested as non-wagering events prior to the start of the 12-race pari-mutuel program.

In the first event of the evening, Some Call Me Joe tallied a victory in 2:00.1 for the Comedy Hill Stable of Ft. Lauderdale and driver/trainer Gaston Lareau. The gelding, who finished fifth in last week’s opening leg, is a son of Mannart Howard, out of the Fighting Major mare Major Celebration.

Sody’s Moonshine, who captured a division of the first-leg of the Gator Pacing Series on June 30 in 2:00.3, knocked over two seconds off that mark when pacing a winning mile in 1:58 to take Saturday night’s second division of the series.

Owned by Donald Soderstrom of Deland and trained by Jay Sears, the son of Tough Sir, out of the Scoot Outa Reach mare Sue Perfecta, was driven to victory by Kevin Wallis. (Pompano Park)

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