Pompano Beach, FL --- Lugar, who had been involved in four photo finish decisions this year -- all of which he lost -- picked a great time to, finally win one and he picked a perfect time to do it.

The 5-year-old son of Famously took top honors in Pompano Park’s Open I Trot on Wednesday night (March 13), eking out a very narrow win in a lifetime best 1:55 for Bruce Ranger.

Skip Smith photo

Lugar, handled by Bruce Ranger, eked out a narrow victory in Pompano’s top trot on Wednesday night.

Owned by the Polo Stables and trained by Mark Friedman, Lugar took command straight out of the gate and wired together fractions of :28.1, :58 and 1:26.3 before sprinting home in :28.2 to hold off the very fast closing My Man (Kevin Wallis) to win by a head.

I’ll Tell You What (Dave Ingraham) made a menacing bid on the backside and moved along-side the leader at station number three but had to settle for third, a half-length away. Pure Barre was a fast closing fourth while Good Luck Penny picked up the nickel in the field of six.

“He was good and he was game,” said driver Bruce Ranger after the win. “We got away with a little something halfway through the mile but the pressure was severe from the far turn all the way home. He certainly picked a good time to win a photo for a change.”

For Lugar, it was his second win of the year to go along with six second place finishes and a show, good for $20,506. The win also pushed his lifetime bounty over the $100,000 plateau by a mere $403.

The Open II Trot went to Spin Spanky Spin for Dan Daley, also in 1:55, also a new life’s mark. The 7-year-old son of Conway Hall, fifth halfway through the mile, started grinding forward on the backstretch and edged by the competition late on the strength of a :29.3 finale to garner his second win of the year in seven starts. He’s banked $224,616 lifetime for Ann-Mari Daley.

Dream Lake (Matt Romano) was second followed by Distracting Beauty (Dave Ingraham). Tamarack Hanover and Commander K followed with favorite She’s All In, off at 6-5 on the tote, sixth.