by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Diamond Dagger, deftly handled by Jason Dillander, took top honors in Pompano Park’s $8,500 Open Trot for mares on Monday night (Feb. 6), stopping the timer in a track record 1:53.2.

The splendid 5-year-old daughter of ABC Garland, trained by Mark O’Mara, who co-owns with Paul Johnson and Melvin Schmucker, led at every pole, clocking panels of :27.2, :55.4 and 1:24.3 before a :28.4 romp home sealed the win and the track record. McKenzie’s Star, driven by Fern Paquet Jr., was 8-1/4 lengths away in second with Seven Points Jesse, with Peter Wrenn in the sulky, just another nose back in third. Bad Angel was fourth in this record performance while Saint Beth picked up the nickel in the classy septet of trotters.

After the race, driver Dillander remarked, “Mark’s (O’Mara) mare is very handy and with the five post here you have a tactical advantage for some reason when the gate leaves. I sent her and had that early tussle with Rick’s (Plano) mare, She’s All In, but, once my mare made the top, she was on her own the rest of the way.

“I knew she was capable of this kind of mile when she cut it and got nailed in (1):53 and a piece against the boys a couple of starts ago. She always puts in a solid performance and tonight was no different. She was on her own all the way home. Don’t give me the credit here — give it to the mare. She was awesome.”

In garnering her second win in five starts this year, Diamond Dagger pushed her seasonal bankroll to $15,650. She now has 15 wins in 79 career starts with earnings of $161,822 to go along with her new lifetime mark. Off at 1-5 on the Pompano toteboard, Diamond Dagger paid $2.40 to win to her multitude of faithful.

Yet another brilliant performance was put in by Southwind Stryker, a 5-year-old son of Muscle Hill. Catch-driven by John MacDonald for trainer Dan Hennessey and owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil, Southwind Stryker, away fourth in his sextet, used his now patented backstretch sprint from fourth into the lead heading into the final turn and scored by three-parts of a length over a game Sand Swan (Matt Krueger). Kamikaze Lindy (Mike Simons) was next, 2-1/4 lengths away while Tick Tok Tag was fourth. Phoenician picked up the minor award.

The win was a seasonal best for Southwind Stryker, who now sports a 3-1-1 scorecard in five starts and earnings of $12,143. The owner of a 1:53.4 mark at age two over Lexington’s Red Mile, Southwind Stryker trotted his final three-quarters just a shade over 1:25 for the win this night. Also sent postward at 1-5, the winner paid $2.40.

Racing continues on Tuesday night with a Pick-6 carryover and a Super Hi-5 carryover that has pierced the $50,000 mark — $51,371 to be precise. The Super Hi-5 finale is a 20-cent based wager with the entire jackpot awarded if there is one unique ticket sold on the winning combination. If there are multiple winners, 50 percent of the night’s Super Hi-5 net pool is shared by the winning ticket holders with the remainder enhancing the carryover pool. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m. for the Tuesday night program.