Modern Mercury, cleverly handled by George Napolitano Jr., took top honours in Pompano Park’s $8,500 Open Trot for mares on Tuesday night (February 28), as she orbited wide past her rivals turning for home and scored by two lengths in a lifetime best performance timed in 1:54.3.
The four-year-old daughter of Donato Hanover pinned the defeat on Serendipitious, driven by Wally Hennessey. Celebrity Artemis, with Marcello Spano in the sulky, finished third, two and three-quarter lengths off the winner, while Shes All In, prominent throughout the mile, finished fourth. Bad Angel, last in the septet until mid-stretch, rallied to finish fifth.
It was Serendipitious winning the initial war for the top spot as she out-duelled Shes All In to the opening turn to take command and blitz an opening panel in :27.2 and half in :56.2.
At the half-way juncture, Shes All In remained cozy in her pocket with Celebrity Artemis next and M T Ur Pockets on the move from fourth and Modern Mercury picking up her cover.
On the backside, Serendipitious began to pick up the pace as Shes All In continued patient while M T Ur Pockets was stalling a bit on the outside, forcing Napolitano to make a decision on when to tilt wide.
Just past the third station, ‘Nap’ sent Modern Mercury into orbit and, turning for home, already had her sights on Serendipitious. At mid-stretch, it was virtually all over as Modern Mercury was on her way to victory with her :29 finale.
After the race, driver George Napolitano Jr. remarked, “the last couple of starts, she did race good against the boys and being in with her own kind helped a lot.
“When I tilted her out wide turning for home, she was very willing to finish the job. She’s a pretty solid mare.”
Trained by Rob Harmon for owner John Campagnuolo, Modern Mercury won for the fourth time this year in eight starts, sending her seasonal earnings to $19,075. Lifetime, she now has nine wins and career bounty of $70,175 to go along with her new lifetime mark tonight.
As the 6-5 tote-board choice, Modern Mercury paid $4.40 to win.
Racing continues on Wednesday night with a carryover in the Pick-6, a $10,000 guaranteed Pick-4 pool and a Super Hi 5 carryover of $24,307.
Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park)