De Vins Girl, off this week at 8-1, made amends to her backers on Sunday night by scoring a handy 1:53 win for Rick Plano in Pompano Park's $10,000 Open Pace for fillies and mares.
The six-year-old daughter of Red River Hanover, owned and trained by Luca Derrico, disappointed her followers in the favourite role in her last two starts on "off" tracks, but found the "fast" track to her liking on Sunday night showing early speed out of the gate and a brief yield before taking the lead for good just a few steps past the opening panel of :28.3. In complete control thereafter, De Vins Girl clocked subsequent fractions of :57 and 1:25 before sealing the issue with a :28 finale.
Her margin of victory over 49-1 shot Loretta was three lengths with the 25-1 chance Aubsession third. The 3-10 favourite, Woman Of Terror, never really fired and finished fourth while Odds On Aventure picked up the final award in the field of nine.
"You know, this is a heck of a tough mare with a mark of [1]:51 and a piece," said Plano in a post-race interview. "She threw a shoe on the off track last week and Luca said she can leave like a jackrabbit. When I got to he half so cheap, I almost turned around right then and there to go get her picture taken. That's how confident I was that she could go on the rest of the way."
While the victory was worth $18.40 to her $2 backers, the win was worth $5,000 to owner-trainer Derrico, sending the mare's 2013 bounty to $75,345 and lifetime earnings to $169,625.
With the overwhelming chalk off the board, the trifecta returned $4,351 and was part of the reason that, for the third straight night, Pompano's 50-cent Pick 5 offering went unscathed. Monday's carryover is well over $5,000 and Racing Director John Yinger sees a pool exceeding $10,000 for the Monday night program.
In addition to the Pick 5 carryover, the track, in cooperation with the USTA's Strategic Wagering Program, will also feature a Pick 4 wager with a guaranteed pool of $5,000.
(With files from Pompano Park)