Pompano Beach, FL — Prairie Panther, handled by Wally Hennessey, extended his winning streak to five on Sunday (Feb. 20) in the featured $14,200 Open Pace at Pompano Park, stopping the timer in 1:51.2. What made the performance so amazing was the fact that Prairie Panther was making his first start in nearly a month, having his last on-track pari-mutuel exercise on Jan. 23.

After a month off, Prairie Panther came back to extend his win streak to five in Pompano Park’s Open Handicap. Jessica Hallett photo.

The 8-year-old gelded son of Royel Millennium, four-for-four this year coming into the action, made it five-for-five this semester by taking charge at the:27 opener and then preceding through fractions of :56 and 1:24.1 before a :27.1 finale sealed the issue by three-parts of a length over the pocket-sitting Cinnamon Beach (Patrizio Ancora) with the late charging Seeing Eye Single (John MacDonald) third, 3-1/2 lengths away. Maxdaddy Blue Chip was fourth while Peter Dalt picked up the minor award in this classy million dollar field.

In a post race interview, Hennessey, too, was amazed by Prairie Panther saying, “Let me tell you, this was an amazing performance…a mind boggling performance. To come back after a month off and perform like that is, well, is there a better word than amazing?

“When I spoke to Mike (trainer Deters) and asked if he’d be tight enough, he said he should be good. But you have to be more than good to tangle with these that he was facing. He’s just as fast at the end as he was when he left the gate. Can’t say enough about him or Mike, as he is one of the top conditioners in this industry.”

Trainer Deters echoed Hennessey by saying “(Prairie) Panther never ceases to amaze me. He lives up to his name with his tenacity on the racetrack.”

For Prairie Panther, it was his 52nd career success and vaulted his career earnings to $497,700 for Deters, who co-owns with breeder Laurie Poulin.

Evidently, the wagering public wasn’t concerned about the lapsed time between starts. They made him the 4-5 favorite as he paid $3.80 to win.

The $12,600 Open II Pace went to Scootnroll, driven by Joe Chindano Jr. The 5-year-old altered son of Roll With Joe used a :27.3 finale to rally past the pacesetting Real Peace (Ricky Macomber Jr.) to score by a half-length in 1:52. Agedchedar Hanover (John MacDonald) finished third.

It was Trashytonguetalker zipping off the wings from his outside post before yielding to Real Peace at the hot :27 opener with Agedchedar Hanover third and Surfer Beach next. Real Peace then cut through panels of :55.2 and 1:23.4 while holding off a challenge of Surfer Beach around the final bend. While Real Peace was able to do that, he wasn’t able to hold off Scootnroll, who surged past a few strides from the wire.

Trained by John Hallett for Rick and Geoff Howles, Scootnroll won for the second time this year and 21st time career-wise, sending his lifetime bankroll to $150,920.

Racing continues on Monday night with a $15,000 guaranteed Pick-4 pool highlighted by an industry low 12 percent takeout. First post is set for 7:20 p.m.