Prairie Westerngal, stepping up a notch after a win last week in Open II company for fillies and mares, took top honours in a close photo finish to win the $11,500 Open Handicap for mares on Tuesday night (Nov. 24) at Pompano Park.

The four-year-old daughter of Western Ideal had Wally Hennessey in her sulky for trainer Mike Deters, who co-owns with Laurie Poulin and Fritz Racing. Her 1:52.1 victory was a lifetime best.

The margin of victory was a scant nose over the late-charging invader Crisp Mane, with Ask Me Ifi Care closing fastest of all to be third less than a length away. Another Beach Day and Tempus Seelster picked up the final two awards in the classy septet.

At the outset, Prairie Westerngal left from post 4 with alacrity as Ask Me Ifi Care used her pylon post to snuggle right behind and Crisp Mane finding an early seat in third before leaving that spot and surging to the lead just short of the :27 first quarter. That left Prairie Westerngal in the garden spot, but not for long as Hennessey put his mare right back to the top and carded a healthy half of :55.2 with Crisp Man one-and-a-quarter lengths away, Ask Me Ifi Care two-and-a-half lengths back and Tempus Seelster on the move from last early to fourth.

On the backside, Prairie Westerngal began to feel the heat as Tempus Seelster moved to within a length of the lead past the third station in 1:23.4. Turning for home, Crisp Man found some room to roam and began gnawing away at the leader's margin, especially in the final sixteenth, but just missed all the marbles in that photo.

In a post-race interview, Hennessey said, “She raced her heart out tonight and the wire came just in time. Last week, she was in the garden spot all the way before she put in her rally to win. This was a more difficult trip but she felt so strong that I thought she’d be good on the front. She showed me her mettle tonight.”

Trainer Mike Deters echoed Hennessey’s comments saying, “I thought she raced super, especially considering the she had to fight off Rob’s (Rittof) mare (Tempus Seelster) and Ricky’s (Macomber) mare (Crisp Mane) but she dug in. The addition of Lasix has improved her greatly. She always had tremendous gate speed and the Lasix has enabled her to finish her races much stronger. As we all know, there’s no lap money in this sport…they only pay at the wire.”

The win was the sixth of the year for Prairie Westerngal in 17 starts, pushing her 2020 bounty to $31,831 and $125,813 lifetime. As the 6-5 favourite, Prairie Westerngal paid $4.40 to win.

In the $10,000 Open II Pace for the ladies, Casies Believer, driven by owner-trainer Joe Chindano, Jr., slipped through along the pylons in the final yards to nail the leading Image Of A Dream to take top honors in 1:53.4.

Take A Bit Of Life was third while Northern Dali and Persistent Bettor finished fourth and fifth respectively. Talk Show Chica picked up the minors in the field of 10.

As the wings folded, there was heavy action as Casies Believer, Northern Dali and Persistent Bettor all left alertly, with Image Of A Dream next but on the move shortly after the first eighth and on a mission for the lead. After an opener in :27, Image Of A Dream moved forward and secured the lead to a :55.2 half. Reaching the third station in 1:24.3, Image Of A Dream continued to lead as Casies Believer, sitting fourth and chilly turning for home, found room on the inside to push her head in front right at the wire.

This five-year-old daughter of Betterthancheddar won for the fourth time in 22 starts this semester to improve her bounty to $26,779.

As the third choice in the betting at 5-1, Casies Believer paid $12.60 to win.

Once again, there were several handsome payouts on the Tuesday program with the highlights being a $4,273.15 for a 50-cent Pick-4 winning ducat and a $22,040.44 payday for the 20-cent winning ticket on the Super Hi-5.

Driver Wally Hennessey had a consecutive trio of winners on Tuesday, winning the first three races with the aforementioned Prairie Westerngal, Cradiac Fashion ($7.20) and Chart Topper ($3.00) while Joe Chindano, Jr. had a consecutive driving doublein races eight and nine with R E's Shabla ($9.00) following Casie's Believer to the winner's circle.

Wednesday (Nov. 25) night’s action includes a Pick-6 carryover with the Thanksgiving Eve program beginning at 7:20 p.m. (EST).

(Pompano Park)