Godiva Seelster and Prairie Fortune took top honours in their respective Open events on Wednesday night (December 7) at Pompano Park.
First, the grand mare, Godiva Seelster, handled by Hall of Fame driver Wally Hennessey, scored in the $11,000 Open Handicap Pace for mares, as she stopped the timer in 1:51.2.
The six-year-old daughter of Camluck, trained by Dan Hennessey for Paul and Patricia O’Neill, took command prior to the :27.3 opener and cut panels of :56 and 1:24.2 before a :27 finale sealed the issue by one and a quarter lengths over All Charged Up (driven by John MacDonald). Jets Are On (Kevin Wallis) finished third while Memumsnotnice was fourth. Sandysgoldenhour finished fifth in the field that had been scratched down to five.
After the race, Hennessey heaped all the praise on ‘Lady Godiva,’ saying, “she’s just a ‘one in a million’ mare.
“She’s just as nice as she can be in the barn and handles her tasks on the track in a professional manner. When she doesn’t win, it’s not because she’s not trying, it’s because another one just out-brushes her. A couple of weeks ago, she paced a final quarter in :26.4.
“It just so happened that another good mare paced in :26.3. See what I mean? She tries every step of the mile! She’s just amazing.”
Godiva Seelster won for the 12th time this year and sent her seasonal earnings to $110,558. She’s banked $330,275 lifetime on the strength of a 37-29-18 scorecard in 108 career starts and has missed only one cheque in her past 99 starts, covering her last four seasons.
As the 1-2 post time favourite, Godiva Seelster paid $3.00 to win.
In the $12,000 trotting feature, Prairie Fortune, the outstanding Florida-bred handled by John MacDonald, overcame the outside post (Post 8) to score a handy two and a half-length victory in 1:54.4.
The late-charging Explosive Muscles (Dave Ingraham) finished second, while Undercover Bro (Wally Hennessey) finished third after a two-move mile that left him in the lead turning for home.
Pocket Trip, who saved ground all the way around, finished fourth, while Commentary finished fifth after a first-over backside bid.
At the outset, Undercover Bro and Tater Twister traded places on the lead, with the former at the opening marker in :27.2 and the latter in front halfway through in :56.1. At that juncture, Undercover Bro was out and driving for the lead again with Commentary on the attack with Prairie Fortune, last early on, grinding forward and following the live cover of Commentary.
Right at that third station, Prairie Fortune swept three wide and mowed down his competition with the greatest of ease.
In a post-race interview, Mac Donald said, “This horse can grind all day long. Even though we started from the outside, once we caught that live cover, he was kind of begging to go three wide. I fought him for a short time and then let him have his way and he responded with his usual great brushing power.”
Prairie Fortune, a four-year-old son of Arapa Victory, won for the 11th time in 26 starts this year to send his seasonal earnings to $84,665. He’s banked $197,945 for Laurie Poulin, who co-owns with trainer Mike Deters.
It was the 26th win in only 48 lifetime starts for the winner and proved to be the 999th career training victory for trainer Deters.
Even money on the tote-board, Prairie Fortune paid $4.20 to his multitude of followers.
In the ever-popular ‘Over-The-Hill Gang’ trot for the senior citizens of the Standardbred breed, M T Ur Pockets, driven by Mike Simons, swept up on the far outside around the final turn and then went on to score a two-length victory over the late-charging Adenium (Wally Hennessey) in 1:55.2, a seasonal best time for the nine-year-old daughter of Hard Rock N Roll.
Pop My Buttons (Brad Kramer) cut lively panels of :27.3, :56.4 and 1:25.3 and wound up third, two and a quarter lengths away, while Cashahallic finished fourth after a first-up bid that brought him within a length of the leader turning for home. R G Rocket earned the minor award in the octet.
Owned by Albert Abdala III along with trainer-driver Simons, M T Ur Pockets won for the seventh time this year in 34 starts, sending her seasonal bounty to $47,993 and $228,355 lifetime.
As the third choice on the tote board at 5-1, M T Ur Pockets returned $12.00 to win.
Racing at Pompano will continue on Saturday night with the British-American Series on tap in a three-race competition.
Post time for the card is set for 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park)