by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Tater Twister, superbly handled by Mike Simons, turned the tables on the vaunted Prairie Fortune to score a gate-to-wire, 1:54 victory in Pompano Park’s $12,000 Open Handicap Trot on Monday (Dec. 19).

Skip Smith photo

Tater Twister pulled off a minor upset in Pompano Park’s top trot on Monday night.

The 6-year-old gelded son of ABC Garland cut panels of :27.3, :56 and 1:24 before holding off the late surging, ground saving Gold Savage, with Kevin Wallis, to score by a half-length. It was 6-1/4 lengths further back to Explosive Muscles, handled by Dave Ingraham, who finished third. The 1-5 favorite, Prairie Fortune, driven by John MacDonald, finished fourth but was set back a notch to fifth after an extended break in the final sixteenth, allowing Pocket Trip to move up a spot to fourth. Sooo Handsome completed the roster, destroying his chances with a miscue just short of the opening quarter.

After the race, driver Simons said, “You know, last week when I drove him, he was very sharp and just got out-kicked late. This time, with John’s (MacDonald) horse leaving from the outside, I thought that maybe, if I put enough distance between us, he could hang on.

“When we got through the final turn and John’s horse wasn’t making any further headway, I really thought we had a good chance to get it done.

“He drifted out a bit in the lane and that let Kevin’s (Wallis) horse get through, but fortunately the wire came up and we hit it first.

“He went a nice mile — the kind he’s capable of when he’s this good.”

Trained by Mike Murphy for Barbara Murphy, Imogene Rhule and Geneva Stewart, Tater Twister scored his eighth win of the season in 39 starts, vaulting his 2106 bounty to $53,582. He’s banked $106,761 lifetime.

While the winner earned the $6,000 stipend for the owners, the win enabled two fortunate Pick-6 ticket holders to cash in to the tune of $15,741.15 for their 50-cent investment on the winning 5-4-7-1-3-5 combination.

Tater Twister was the second choice in the field at 5-1 and returned $12.20 to his faithful.

Racing continues on Tuesday night with a Super Hi-5 carryover of $33,029 awaiting. Post time is 7:20 p.m.