by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Artful Impulse and Count Speed reined supreme in their respective co-featured events at Pompano Park on Wednesday night (May 13).

Artful Impulse, off at 9-1 and patiently handled by Andy Santeramo, kicked things off in the $8,500 Winners Over Handicap for pacing mares by shocking the 1-20 favorite Senorita Santanna, driven by Wally Hennessey, in 1:52.4. Winbak Heavenly, with Tom Sells in the bike, finished third while the only other starter in the event, Mach Me Not, finished fourth. Cheap N Easy was a late scratch in the opener, reducing the field to four.

Skip Smith photo

Artful Impulse scored an upset victory in Pompano Park’s top pace for mares on Wednesday night.

As the Hummer wings opened, Artful Impulse and Senorita Santanna left together and engaged in a duel for the first eighth before Artful Impulse yielded to Senorita Santanna, the latter taking the field to an opening quarter in :26.4 with Winbak Heavenly content to stay in third and Mach Me Not already about five lengths away as the trailer.

Positions remained stagnant through a half in :56.2 with Senorita Santanna picking up the pace a bit on the backside. reaching the third station in 1:24.4 and with a clear lead turning for home.

Once they straightened away, Artful Impulse left the coziness of her pocket and began gnawing away at the leader, drawing on even terms a sixteenth out and edging to the lead near the wire — the winning margin a half-length.

In a post race interview, driver Andy Santeramo said, “Jimmy (trainer McDonald) said she had gate speed and I figured the only way I had a chance of upsetting Wally’s mare was to leave with mine and try to take a little sting out of her early. I thought Wally got away from us a little bit on the far turn but my mare responded very nicely when it counted. She must’ve come her last quarter under :28 (actually :27.4). Big mile.”

For Artful Impulse, a 4-year-old daughter of Artistic Fella owned by Twenty Four Carrot Racing, it was her third win of the year in 17 starts, good for $22,900 this semester. She’s banked $113,145 lifetime. As third choice in the betting, Artful Impulse returned $20.20 to win.

Count Speed never had an anxious moment as Wally Hennessey guided this 6-year-old Majestic Son gelding to a handy win — his fifth in a row — over stablemate Verdi, driven by Walter Ross Jr., in 1:54.4 in the $8,500 Winners Over Handicap Trot. My Revenuer, with Tom Sells in the bike, used his typical late rally to finish third while Jailhouse Jessica finished fourth. Adenium picked up the nickel in the sextet.

It was Count Speed flashing his usual alacrity as the gate sprung and after a brief battle with Adenium took command and led through opening panels of :28 and :57.3. Just short of that second marker, Jailhouse Jessica, fifth early on, began her sprint forward as did Verdi, away last in the early going but now following Jailhouse Jessica’s live cover.

With the pace beginning to pick up three-eighths out, Count Speed maintained a clear lead with Jailhouse Jessica a bit more than a length away, Adenium holding the third spot near the pylons and Verdi fanning widest of all through three-quarters in 1:26.2.

In the lane, Hennessey sat confidently as Count Speed gave him a :28.2 sprint to the wire, stopping the clock in that aforementioned 1:54.4.

After the race, Hennessey said, “This horse is very sharp right now…super sharp. He just seems to do what he has to do to get to the wire first. I was a little surprised to see his stablemate (Verdi) charging into second as he was stepping up to the big time for the first time.”

Both Count Speed and Verdi are trained by Dan Hennessey for owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil.

Count Speed now owns a 5-0-1 scorecard in seven starts with earnings of $21,470. He’s won 24 times during his career with a bankroll of $219,870. As the talk of the toteboard at 3-5, Count Speed returned $3.20 to his many faithful.

Finally, in Wednesday’s Super Hi-5, the 5-6-8-4-7 winning combo produced 22 winning 20 cent tickets, pushing the carryover for Saturday night over $197,000. Post time is 7:30 p.m.