by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Godiva Seelster, the mare that gave Just A Bee all she could handle last week before succumbing in the final few strides, turned the tables on her rival on Monday night (March 30) at Pompano Park and scored a narrow win in a lifetime best performance of 1:51.2 for driver Wally Hennessey.

Skip Smith photo

Godiva Seelster pinned a narrow defeat on Just A Bee in Monday night’s Open Pace for mares.

The 5-year-old daughter of Camluck, trained by Wally’s brother Dan for Paul and Patricia O’Neil, took command just a few steps after the gate opened and carved out fractions of :27.2, :55.3 and 1:23.1 before courageously coming home in :28.1 to score by a neck over Just A Bee and driver Mike Micallef. Mach Me Not, with Bruce Ranger in the bike, was a stout closing third while Mach It A Par, prominent from the get-go, finished fourth. Senorita Santanna picked up the final award in the sextet.

In a post race interview, driver Wally Hennessey said, “This mare (Godiva Seelster) is about as consistent as they come. She always gives a good performance. This was her third start back after a couple of months off and she was sharp coming back…didn’t lose one step. She dug in tonight and after that :27.3 backside quarter I was just hoping for the best. She was a determined winner. But Mike’s mare (Just A Bee) went a great trip on her own, too. She’s mighty tough.”

In defeat, Micallef spoke highly of Godiva Seelster saying, “Just A Bee raced a great mile, no doubt about that, but Wally’s mare was extremely sharp and deserves the accolades; she earned them tonight. I look forward to a rematch — and I am sure he does, too!”

Godiva Seelster now has a 2-1-0 scorecard in her three starts, good for $13,500 in bounty. She has $122,342 in lifetime earnings. As the 9-5 second choice on the toteboard, Godiva Seelster paid $5.60 to win.

The $9,500 Open 2 pace for mares went to De Vins Girl, an 8-year-old daughter of Red River Hanover, scoring a virtual gate-to-wire win for Matt Romano in 1:53.2 for owner-trainer Luca Derrico. Fiesta Camcun, with Kevin Wallis handling the mare’s lines, finished second with Glow Stick, driven by Dave Ingraham, next after putting a scare into the winner around the final turn and through mid-stretch. Oceans Motion finished fourth while Jump Start picked up the nickel in the quintet.

De Vins Girl tussled briefly with Fiesta Camcun before taking command and carding panels of :27.2, :56.2 and 1:25 before sealing the issue with that :28.2 sprint home for her second success of the year in 12 starts, good for 2015 bounty of $23,750. She’s now banked $299,785 lifetime.

Though known for her explosive closing kick, De Vins Girl has 11 wins over the past two seasons in 50 starts with eight of those wins in virtual wire-to-wire fashion. As the 4-5 favorite, De Vins Girl paid $3.60 to win.

Pompano Park’s Super Hi-5 created eight winning tickets on the 2-7-8-10-1 combo with the 20 cent ticket worth $692, pushing the carryover to the Wednesday night program over $85,000. Post time is 7:30 p.m. for the mid-week card.