Once again, the "Jaguar" mauled his rivals at Pompano Park on Saturday night.
Prairie Jaguar, the splendid six-year-old Florida bred son of Spy Hard, used his domineering gate speed to take the lead in the very first stride, proceeded to gnaw his way through panels of :26.4, :54.3 and 1:22.3 and went on to score a handy win measuring one and three-quarter lengths for driver Aaron Byron in Pompano Park's top $10,000 Open Pace.
The final time was, once again, 1:50.3, the exact same time as last week's victory.
There were a lot of "once agains" in this event.
Once again, Northern Companion, with Mike Micallef handling the lines, chased the winner home.
And, once again, Cartoonist, third last week, repeated that performance this week, five and a quarter lengths away for Bruce Ranger.
Hurricane Howard, along for the ride as part of an entry with the "Jaguar," was fourth with Mr Dennis picking up the "nickel" in the sextet.
Owned by Laurie Lee Poulin along with trainer Mike Deters, Prairie Jaguar won for the 20th time during his splendid career -- 15 of those victories at Pompano Park.
"Jaguar" is the only horse in Pompano Park history to record five winning miles in 1:50 or faster -- his mark being 1:49.
In a post race interview, driver Byron said, "Mr. Deters has this horses absolutely razor sharp right now. He really seems to love the surroundings here. It's like he has a real determination to put on a great show for his fans here. He just keeps going and going...amazing!"
Northern Companion's trainer, Howard Klohr, also had some very complimentary words for the winner. "He's [Prairie Jaguar] just a monster right now. I think I have a pretty solid pacer in Northern Companion here and it's like I'm caught between the devil and the deep blue sea!
"My horse loves to race off the pace, but it's tough to plan a strategy against Prairie Jaguar.
"If I don't leave from this post [five], then I'm six lengths off the pace of a horse that can pace a last half in :54 and a piece...and it's tough to make up territory in that scenario.
"If I leave, like I did the last couple of times, a horse can get demoralized when you find yourself gapped while pacing an opener in :26 and a piece."
Klohr, indeed, has a point!
For the winner, he's now banked $85,405 for the year and $142,627 lifetime.
Prairie Jaguar paid $2.80 to win this time around.
In the "Open 2" Pace, Freeneasy Hanover came from well off the pace to collar 3-5 favourite Ts Electric to score in 1:53.4 for Bruce Ranger.
The six-year-old son of Western Ideal, trained by Jim McDonald for Twenty Four Carrot Racing and Ciro Gentile, won for the 21st time during his career -- five of those triumphs this year -- to send his lifetime bounty to $187,090.
After the event, Ranger said, "This horse gave me a bit of a hint last week. He just couldn't make up that much ground on a :55.4 final half. The pace was a bit quicker this time around [:56.1 opening half] and it worked out to his advantage because he can go a bit when given some racetrack."
Racing continues at Pompano Park on Wednesday night with the FSBOA sponsored Sunshine State Stakes. Post time is 7:30 p.m.
(Pompano Park)