Diamond Dagger and Prairie Fortune won their respective feature events at Pompano Park on Wednesday night, as the south Florida oval presented a pair of $10,000 Open trotting events.
Additionally, driver Bryce Fenn reached a milestone, as he recorded his 2,500 career win in the sulky.
Diamond Dagger, a sharp five-year-old daughter of ABC Garland, was driven by Peter Wrenn and scored by three parts of a length over a game Vicki All (driven by J.D. Yoder). The final time was 1:55.1. Shes All In, who had Rick Plano in her sulky, was third, three and a half lengths away, while Miss Flora and Pinky The Intern completed the order of finish in the quintet.
At the outset, Shes All In, burst off the wings of the gate along with Vicki All. The former took command and Vicki All settled in the garden spot. At the opening station in :28.1, Diamond Dagger was next, but, three-eighths in, began her jaunt forward and moved alongside the leader half way through in :57.4.
On the backside, Diamond Dagger forger to the front and opened up a clear lead past the third station in a picked-up 1:26. In the lane, Vicki All gave futile chase, but fell short, as Diamond Dagger sealed the deal with a :29.1 finale.
After the race, driver Peter Wrenn said, "I wasn't too worried about her stepping up from last week's win. She handled the nine post in that one and was very sharp – both leaving and on the backside when I asked her.
"Tonight, she was just as sharp and she seemed as confident as I was when I gave her the 'go' sign heading towards the half. Mark (trainer O'Mara) always does such a great job and he had her ready tonight."
O'Mara co-owns the rugged mare along with Paul Johnson and Melvin Schmucker.
Diamond Dagger now has a11-3-5 scorecard from 34 starts and $77,010 on her card. Lifetime, she banked $223,182 on the strength of 24 wins in 108 career starts.
As the 3-5 favourite, Diamond Dagger paid $3.20 to her multitude of backers.
Prairie Fortune, driven by Jim Meittinis, used his typical late-charging strategy to roll by his competitors midway through the lane to score in 1:55.2. The victorious margin was one and three-quarter lengths over Boli, who was handled by Wally Hennessey. Sooo Handsome, driven by Rick Plano, finished a fast closing third, while the early leader, Bobs Hope, was fourth. The favourite, Rockn Stien, made a miscue leaving, but did recover to finish fifth in the octet.
Indeed, it was Bobs Hope who flashed speed leaving, along with Boli, who began his journey from the outside post.
After the :27.4 opening panel, Boli took command and took the field half way home in a well rated :58.
At that point, Prairie Fortune was seventh but on the move with a double-bubble binge that took him to fourth past the three-quarter mark in 1:27.
Turning for home, Prairie Fortune pulled along side Boli and took command with authority on the strength of a :28 final quarter.
In a post-race interview, driver Jim Meittinis related, "Well, I was a bit concerned with at the half (:58). I would rather have seen :56 and a piece but it is what it is.
"I just gave him the racetrack on the backstretch and he responded like he usually does. He can brush a long, long way and he did that tonight."
The five-year-old gelded son of Arapa Victory won for the ninth time this year. It was the 36th win of his 82-start career.
Trained by Mike Deters, who co-owns with Laurie Poulin, Prairie Fortune now has $278,910 in lifetime earnings – $74,365 this year.
Sent postward as the 8-5 second choice, Prairie Fortune paid $5.40 to win.
Driver Bryce Fenn reached a career milestone on Wednesday night by driving An The Thunderolls to a sharp win in 1:54. The win, was the third straight for the three-year-old altered son of Canyon Wind and turned out to be the 2,500th career victory for Bryce Fenn, who was in the bike for owner-trainer Mike Sweeney.
Said the soft-spoken Fenn of his accomplishment, "It's nice. Mike (trainer Sweeney) has him very sharp right now, so I'll just give the credit to the horse and leave it at that."
Fenn has been in the harness racing industry for over four decades and was featured on a 1975 ‘Hoof Beats’ cover when he was 15 years old.
Pompano racing will continue on Sunday night. A trio of carryovers will await in the opening superfecta ($3,338.68), Pick-6 ($4,139.65) and Super Hi-5 ($12,331.33).
Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park)