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The gallant pacer Panocchio (No Pan Intended) has been retired.
The 12-year-old closed the curtain on his brilliant career measuring 255 starts with 77 wins and $690,022 in earnings and forever bettered the lives of owners Jim and Vicki Mattison, along with Emile Johnson, Jr.
“He was, pretty much, a blessing for us from the moment we got him,” lamented Vicki Mattison.
“Actually,” Jim said, “we thought we had something special after one particular race at Saratoga when Panocchio came back to the winner’s circle with a flat tire.
“I asked my brother, Gerry, who was driving him, ‘when did that happen? He said it was about halfway through, so I thought, ‘hmmm, he was dragging that around all that way?’”
But the story of Panocchio began well before that as a “nondescript” two-year-old selling at Harrisburg.
Jim Mattison continued “He made a few bucks as a two-year-old, but Bob MacIntosh has been known to have some pretty nice horseflesh and this one probably just wasn’t up to his lofty standards.
“I liked the fact that he showed some :27 and a piece last quarters and my longtime partner, Emile Johnson (Jr.), and I thought we’d try and get Jim for anything under $30,000.
“The hammer fell at $23,000 and we had what we thought might be a nice racehorse.”
After a three-for-five summer season at Saratoga, the Mattisons were on their way to Pompano Park, which would become ‘home sweet home.”
“I guess you could call him a ‘snowbird’ although we weren’t from Canada,” said Vicki. “Saratoga is pretty close, though.”
When Panocchio got down south to The Pomp, the Mattisons entrusted Bruce Ranger when the horse went behind the gate.
Ranger recalled, “We were in a schooling race just to get some exercise and we went to the top and cut fractions of :30, 1:00 and 1:30 and Panocchio hardly finished out his mile, so I didn’t know what to think!”
“Panocchio never trained all that much,” Mattison said, “anywhere from 2:20 to 2:40, but, once he sees the track and the lights, it’s a different story.
Panocchio immediately made his presence felt in South Florida by winning in a lifetime best 1:52.3 for Ranger.
Two more wins followed—one in a lifetime best 1:51 performance— and Panocchio quickly became a Pompano Park favorite.
As a four-year-old, Panocchio really blossomed by winning 16 times in 28 starts, including his first 1:50 performance followed by his initial sub-1:50 mile, a 1:49.3 clocking for Wally Hennessey with two moves, the second brush first over denting a three-quarter time in 1:21.2, territory the pacer had never seen before. He banked $125,770 that semester.
The following season, at five, Panocchio won 12 times and another $116,122, including a track record performance of 1:48.3 for Dan Clements—a record now that will live in infamy.
Vicki Mattison recalled the event the fondness, saying, “We had always believed that Panocchio was a blessing in our lives and that track record performance just was the icing on the cake!
“From the seven post, no less, and surviving a :26 second (:26.1) opening quarter and then having enough to get home in :26.4.
“That would be a dream for any owner, trainer and driver. And it sure was for us!”
Fast forward as Panocchio began aging a bit, but still giving his all every time he hit the racetrack…
As Pompano Park prepared to wrap up 58 years of history, the final draw was held days earlier and Pompano Park’s leading driver, Wally Hennessey said he would like to drive him the gallant gelding—win, lose or draw.
“When he went on racetrack on that final night,” Hennessey said, “I could almost feel the change in his stature as he was always a gentle, easy to handle horse.
On this night, as soon as his hoof hit the track, I swear he knew the circumstances and importance of this race. It was almost eerie!”
Away third in the mile, Hennessey asked Panocchio for one last sprint and he responded like the track record holder he is.
Reaching the third station in 1:22.2, he cruised to victory in 1:51.3, his fastest winning performance in over three years!
It was his last of 77 career victories—51 of those at Pompano Park.
During his career, Panocchio reached the winner’s circle for eight different drivers, Gerry Mattison, Bruce Ranger, Brian Cross, Corey Braden, Dan Clements, Dave Ingraham, Joe Chindano, Jr. and Wally Hennessey.
Each driver echoed the other about the gameness and greatness of Panocchio.
He’ll now live in comfortable retirement—they’ve already put the saddle on him—at Michelle Clarke’s farm.
Jim and Vicki then glanced at each other and said, “They’ll never be another one like him!”
by John Berry, for Harnesslink
(Got an idea for a feature story on Harnesslink? Email johnberry@harnesslink.com)
