Starting from post five with George Napolitano Jr. at the lines, Cisco Hall was content to settle briefly in fourth through an opening quarter mile in :28.3 before angling off the pylons to begin his overland journey to the front as Guy Gets Girl (Bruce Ranger) cut middle fractions of :58.2 and 1:27.4. As the trotters moved through the final turn, Cisco Hall finally edged clear of Guy Gets Girl, entering the stretch with a 1 ˝-length advantage before opening up that margin to 2 ˝ lengths over a late-charging Table Wine (Dan Clements) at the wire. Cisco Hall returned $10.80, $6.80, and $4 for the victory. Table Wine brought in $22 and $7.20 for second, while Guy Gets Girl paid $5.60 for third. Owned by Joe Chnapko and trained by Bill Gallagher, Cisco Hall is a 6-year-old son of Conway Hall out of the King Conch mare Crown Me Good, and boasts a career record of 13 wins from 47 starts with $231,029 in lifetime earnings. The Monday feature was named in honor of Larry Albano, commemorating his years of service to Pompano Park and the Standardbred industry before his untimely death in June of 2004. For close to 30 years, Albano was an integral part of the life and spirit of the South Florida oval. He began as the writer and primary hawker of “Mickey’s Green Card,” introducing thousands to the sport of harness racing and providing insight for all. Albano later became an expert racing analyst, interviewer, and color commentator of Pompano’s televised races. Family members, friends, track officials, and horsemen filled the Pompano Park winner’s circle following the memorial race. Todd Stone’s Rockome Vic ($3) extended his winning streak to eight while remaining unbeaten since being claimed for $8,000 on Jan. 12 when taking Monday’s $9,000 claiming handicap trot in 1:56.2. Driven by Napolitano, the son of Valley Victor rallied down the center of the track to catch Karpathos in the final yards of the trot, prevailing by three-quarters of a length following a final quarter-mile that went in :28.4. With his victory, Rockome Vic is now tied atop the national standings for wins this season, deadlocked with a pair of Cal Expo based horses, the 6-year-old mare pacer Cam’s Gidget and the 4-year-old trotter Ailene’s Prince. Pompano Park leading driver Ranger visited the winner’s circle six times on the Monday program, tallying victories in the second race with Mac Pacific ($3), the third race with Star Role ($3), the sixth race with Time Slips Away ($4.40), and the seventh race with Famous Mark ($4.80), before sweeping the late double with Son O’Light ($6.20) and Rare Glory ($3.60). (Pompano Park)
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