Pompano Beach, FL — Prairie Westerngal and Northern Dali shared the spotlight as Pompano Park hosted twin Open events for mares on Tuesday (Dec. 1).

Prairie Westerngal, driven by Wally Hennessey, extended her winning streak to three at Pompano Park on Tuesday night. Dee Leftwich photo.

Prairie Westerngal, the sharp 4-year-old daughter of Western Ideal, stretched her winning streak this fall at Pompano to three with a two-move, 1:53.4 win in the $11,500 Open Handicap for Wally Hennessey, who was in the sulky for trainer Mike Deters, who co-owns with Laurie Poulin and Fritz Racing.

Crisp Mane (Ricky Macomber Jr.) was a fast closing second, though three lengths away, while Ask Me Ifi Care (Mike Micallef) finished third. The late charging Tempus Seelster was fourth, while the early leader, Another Beach Day, picked up the nickel in this classy octet.

At the outset, Prairie Westerngal used Pompano Park’s “winningest” post five to zip off the wings and take an early lead, only to be out-kicked by Another Beach Day (Braxten Boyd) at the :27.2 opener — but not for long. Hennessey immediately forged back to the front and was allowed a breather to reach the half in :57.2. A :27.3 backside panel deterred any real threats as Prairie Westerngal reached the third station in 1:25 with a handy :28.4 finale sealing the deal.

After the race, Hennessey remarked, “Mike (Deters) has her very sharp now and she does anything asked of her. She knows how to relax and she knows how to sprint, and she showed both qualities in her race tonight.”

For Prairie Westerngal, it was her seventh win in 18 starts with her 2020 earnings now at $37,581. In her career, she has banked $131,563 to go along with her 1:52.1 mark set just a week ago. As the 3-2 favorite, Prairie Westerngal paid $5.00 to win.

In the companion $10,000 Open II event, Northern Dali, dismissed on the tote board at 33-1, used a ground saving journey to score a “lip” decision in 1:53.4 for Fern Paquet Jr., who was in the bike for owner-trainer Gaston Lareau.

Image Of A Dream (Rick Plano) was second in the photo with the winning margin just one-hundredth of a second: Northern Dali was timed in 1:53.86, and Image Of A Dream in 1:53.87. Cult Icon (John DeLong) was just a neck back in the picture, with her nose on the wire in 1:53.93.

The action was hot start to finish, as Persistent Bettor (Wally Hennessey), Image Of A Dream and Cult Icon all went in search of the top spot. Image Of A Dream took charge just after the sharp :27.1 opener, only to yield to Cult Icon a few strides later. Halfway through the mile in :56, Persistent Bettor was on the move again from third to apply the pressure, and Image Of A Dream sat chilly along the inside. Meanwhile, Northern Dali saved all the ground and stayed flush against the pylons as Image Of A Dream tilted out and Cult Icon drifted out.

The three fanned across the track all the way home, with the photo finish camera determining the winner.

For Northern Dali, the 8-year-old daughter of Dali, her 51st career win — and her fourth this year — lifted her lifetime bounty to $345,664. She returned $69.60 to win.

Pompano Park’s Pick-5 went unsolved on Tuesday and, as a result of a carryover of $11,965, the track will offer a $50,000 guaranteed pool on Wednesday’s (Dec. 2) Pick-5, which begins in race one. The Pick-4 guarantees on Sunday through Wednesday racing programs will be bumped up to $15,000 beginning Sunday (Dec. 6).

Free programs will be continued to be available on the Pompano Park racing website through the end of the year.