by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — GodivaSeelster and Prairie Fortune took top honors in their respective Open events onWednesday night (December 7) at Pompano Park.

First, the grand mare, Godiva Seelster,handled by Hall of Fame driver Wally Hennessey, scored in Pompano Park’s$11,000 Open Handicap Pace for mares, stopping the timer in a seasonal best1:51.2.

Skip Smith photo

The grand mare Godiva Seelster, handled by Wally Hennessey, took top honors in the Open pace for mares on Wednesday night in 1:51.2.

The 6-year-old daughter ofCamluck, trained by Dan Hennessey for Paul and Patricia O’Neill, took commandprior to the :27.3 opener and carded panels of :56 and 1:24.2 before a :27finale sealed the issue by 1-1/4 lengths over All Charged Up (John Mac Donald).Jets Are On (Kevin Wallis) finished third while Memumsnotnice was fourth.Sandysgoldenhour picked up the nickel in the field scratch down to five.

After the event, Hennesseyheaped all the praise on “Lady Godiva” saying, “She’s just a ‘one in a million’mare.

“She’s just as nice as she canbe in the barn and handles her tasks on the track in a professional manner.When she doesn’t win, it’s not because she’s not trying, it’s because anotherone just out-brushes her. A couple of weeks ago, she paced a final quarter in:26.4.

“It just so happened thatanother good mare paced in :26.3. See what I mean? She tries every step of themile! She’s just amazing.”

Godiva Seelster won for the 12thtime this year and sent her seasonal earnings to $110,558. She’s banked$330,275 lifetime on the strength of a 37-29-18 scorecard in 108 career startsand has missed only one check in her past 99 starts covering her last fourseasons.

As the 1-2 favorite, GodivaSeelster paid $3.00 to win.

In the $12,000 trotting feature,Prairie Fortune, the outstanding Florida bred, handled by John Mac Donald,overcame the outside post eitght to score a handy victory measuring 2-1/2lengths in 1:54.4.

The late charging ExplosiveMuscles (Dave Ingraham) finished second while Undercover Bro (Wally Hennessey)finished third after a two-move mile that left him in the lead turning forhome.

Pocket Trip, saving ground allthe way around, finished fourth while Commentary finished fifth after a first-overbackside bid.

In a post-race interview, MacDonald said, “This horse can grind all day long. Even though we started fromthe outside, once we caught that live cover, he was kind of begging to gothree-wide. I fought him for a short time and then let him have his way and heresponded with his usual great brushing power.”

Prairie Fortune, a 4-year-oldson of Arapa Victory, won for the 11th time in 26 starts this year to send hisseasonal earnings to $84,665. He’s banked $197,945 for Laurie Poulin, whoco-owns with trainer Mike Deters.

It was the 26th win in only 48lifetime starts for the winner and proved to be the 999th career trainingvictory for trainer Deters.

Even money on the tote-board,Prairie Fortune paid $4.20 to his multitude of followers.

In the ever-popular“Over-The-Hill Gang” trot for the senior citizens of our equine breed, M T Ur Pockets,driven by Mike Simons, swept up on the far outside around the final turn andthen went on to score a two length victory over the late charging Adenium(Wally Hennessey) in 1:55.2, a seasonal best time for the 9 year-old daughterof Hard Rock N Roll.

Pop My Buttons (Brad Kramer) cutlively panels of :27.3, :56.4 and 1:25.3 and wound up third, 2-1/4 lengthsaway, while Cashahallic finished fourth after a first up bid that brought himwithin a length of the leader turning for home. R G Rocket earned the minoraward in the octet.

Owned by Albert Abdala III alongwith trainer-driver Simons, M T Ur Pockets won for the seventh time thissemester in 34 starts, sending her seasonal bounty to $47,993 and $228,355lifetime.

As third choice on the tote-boardat 5 to 1, M T Ur Pockets returned $12.00 to win.

Racing continues on Saturdaynight with the British-American Series on tap in a three race competition.

Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.