Prairie Westerngal and In Secret were victorious in their respective $11,000 features on Tuesday (March 23) at Pompano Park.
Prairie Westerngal, a five-year-old daughter of Western Ideal, was driven to a 1:53 victory by Wally Hennessey in the Mares Open Handicap Pace, defeating the late charging Casie’s Believer (Joe Chindano Jr.) by three-quarters of a length. Crisp Mane (David Miller) was third, two lengths away.
Prairie Westerngal sprinted to immediate command from her outside post and zipped an opening quarter of :26.2 with Ask Me Ifi I Care second, Crisp Mane third, Evas Sports Czech fourth and Casies Believer trailing. With no immediate threats looming, Hennessey gave a relaxed Prairie Westerngal a :29.4 second-quarter breather. The pace did pick up on the backside as Crisp Mane made a bid from third and got within a length of the leader at the third station in 1:24.1. In the lane, Prairie Westerngal drew clear once again as only Casies Believer was able to do any serious denting through an official final panel of :28.4.
After the race, Hennessey said, “She sure knows how to push the gate out of her way. She’s really sharp right now and Mike (trainer Deters) has her razor sharp. She is a very determined mare.”
Trainer Mike Deters co-owns the mare with Laurie Poulin and Fritz Racing. Prairie Westerngal now sports a 3-3-1 scorecard in 10 starts this season, good for $27,950. As the 4-5 favourite, she paid $3.60 to win.
Roughly 25 minutes later, Deters completed the training sweep of the early daily double as Burn Notice, driven by Braxten Boyd, put on a gritty performance to win the $10,000 Open II Trot.
In the $11,000 Open Handicap Trot, In Secret, with David Miller in her sulky, scored a handy 1:54 win, 1-1/2 lengths over Born To Thrive (Rick Plano) with BJ Lorado (Braxten Boyd), the longest proposition on the board, third.
In Secret, away in good order fourth, made a quarter move after the :27.2 opener and went on to post numbers of :56.2 and 1:25 before remaining unscathed during her :29 second closer.
Trained by Devan Miller for owner Sylvia Burke, In Secret, a nine-year-old daughter of Deweycheatumnhowe, won for the 44th time during an illustrious career which boasts earnings of $881,628. In Secret paid $2.80 to win.
In the $10,000 Open II Pace for mares, Tempus Seelster, confidently driven by John MacDonald, enjoyed a slight dip in class to score a handy win in 1:52.3.
Driver David Miller had another grand slam on the program, driving Penn ($3.60), Beach Forecast ($2.40) and Roll With Angel ($2.60) to victories in addition to the In Secret.
Racing continues on Thursday night (March 25) with a $15,000 guarantee on the Pick-4 (with an industry low 12 per cent takeout), and a Super Hi-5 jackpot approaching $100,000. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park)