Pure Barre and Just A Bee extended their winning streaks on Monday night as Pompano Park hosted a pair of Open events for mares -- one for trotters and the other, of course, for pacers.
The grand mare Pure Barre, making her 100th lifetime start, overcame the outside nine post to score a near gate-to-wire win for Mickey McNichol in 1:55 for her 21st lifetime win.
Owned and trained by Tom Gonsalves, the now seven-year-old daughter of Classic Photo, secured the lead around the opening turn and clocked panels of :27.3, :57.1 and 1:26 before sealing the issue with a :29 finale to score by 2-3/4 lengths over the late-charging Mctinys Hope. M T Ur Pockets, well back early, finished third.
"Yes, we had the nine post but this mare is very handy out of the gate and likes to be in the thick of things from the get-go,” said driver Mickey McNichol. “There didn't seem to be that much early speed in there, so I just let her do her own thing. She knows how to throttle and she knows how to relax--something she did in the second quarter. There was a bit of a challenge around that final turn but she was well in hand all the way home."
Pure Barre, with only nine starts under her girth last year--her scorecard reading 5-3-0 with $34,280--made her initial start of this new year just as she ended last season--with a win--to send her lifetime bounty to $220,145.
As second choice in the wagering, Pure Barre paid $7.00 to her faithful.
Just A Bee, known as the "Queen Bee" in this top class for mares off of three straight winning performances, justified her even-money backing on the toteboard by making it a "hambone"--four-in-a-row--as she, too, was a near wire-to-wire winner for Mike Micallef. Her 1:51 triumph was measured as three-quarters of a length over Mcflirty. Mach It A Par finished third
Starting from the outside post in her septet of mares, Just A Bee was on the fly from the get-go, stinging her way to the top spot around the first turn and buzzing through panels of :27, :55.3 and 1:23.1 before zipping home in :27.4.
The seven-year-old daughter of Mr Feelgood, owned by Anita Micallef along with John Mc Goff and Greg Heath, won for the 27th time during her blossoming career, sending her lifetime earnings to $162,416.
"When the gate opened, I really didn't know if we were going for the top spot or somewhere close up,” said driver Mike Micallef. “She's very handy and has an attitude kinda like, 'just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it!' Were riding the crest right now, so we have to enjoy this while we can. These other mares are very good, too, so each week is an adventure. Just A Bee is just very sharp now. Who knows how long this will last."
Just A Bee returned $4.00 to win.
Once again the Super Hi-5 had multiple winners on Monday night--the consolation paid $1,437.46--so the carryover to Wednesday's program is close to $40,000.
Post time for the mid-week 11-race card is 7:30 p.m.
(Pompano Park)