Lucky Artist A, superbly handled by Mike Simons, painted her way to a repeat win in Pompano Park's $10,500 Open Pace for mares on Tuesday night (Feb. 23), stopping the timer in 1:51.4.
The eight-year-old daughter of Artistic Fella took charge around the opening turn from her outside post and sawed through panels of :27.3 and :56 before a :55.4 half-mile sprint home to reach the finish line 1-1/4 lengths the best over Prairie Westerngal (Wally Hennessey) and Casies Believer (Joe Chindano Jr.).
As the wings folded, Prairie Westerngal used her blazing hooves off the wings to zip into an early lead with Lucky Artist A, leaving two slots farther out, now on the prowl to take charge midway around the opening turn.
From there, no threats developed as Prairie Westerngal drafted along in the garden spot. Turning for home, the anticipated war between the two never materialized as Lucky Artist A was unscathed through a :27.4 final quarter.
In a post-race interview, Simons said, "Last week, she was so strong when I chirped to her on the backside, and she had to have paced that quarter in :26 and change (:26.4). So, I had confidence with her coming in off of her best mile ever and thought, since she's so good now, to take her to the front. She sure didn't let me down. She raced awesome."
Trained by Jared Cooper for the Robert Cooper Stables, Lucky Artist A earned her 21st career win in her milestone 100th start to send her lifetime bankroll to $146,186. She paid $5.40 to win.
Wally Hennessey, who had a grand slam on Monday night, bested that by one on Tuesday night. The Hall Of Fame driver scored with Dads Filly ($3.60), Play To The Crowd ($4.20), Jaded Dream ($5.40), Glenferrie Blade A ($2.80) and Cenaltafirecracker ($16.60) — the latter keying a Super Hi-5 payoff of $5,881.20 for the 20-cent ticket.
Racing continues on Wednesday (Feb. 24) with a guaranteed pool in the popular Pick-4 covering races five through eight. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park)