by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Diamond Dagger and Prairie Fortune won their respective feature events at Pompano Park on Wednesday night (Dec. 6) as the South Florida oval presented a pair of $10,000 Open trotting events, while driver Bryce Fenn reached a milestone, posting his 2,500th career win in the sulky.

Skip Smith photo

Diamond Dagger, with Peter Wrenn in her sulky, took Pompano Park’s top trot for the ladies on Wednesday night.

Diamond Dagger, the sharp 5-year-old daughter of ABC Garland, was driven by Peter Wrenn and scored by three-parts of a length over a game Vicki All, handled by J.D. Yoder, with the final time being 1:55.1. She’s All In, with Rick Plano in her sulky, was third, 3-1/2 lengths away while Miss Flora and Pinky The Intern completed the order of finish in the quintet.

At the outset, She’s All In burst off the wings of the gate along with Vicki All with the former taking command and Vicki All settling in the garden spot. At the opening station in :28.1, Diamond Dagger was next, but three-eighths in began her jaunt forward and moved alongside the leader halfway through in :57.4. On the backside, Diamond Dagger forged to the front and opened up a clear lead past the third station in a picked up 1:26. In the lane, Vicki All gave futile chase but fell short as Diamond Dagger sealed the deal with her :29.1 finale.

After the race, driver Peter Wrenn said, “I wasn’t too worried about her stepping up from last week’s win. She handled the nine post in that one and was very sharp — both leaving and on the backside when I asked her.

“Tonight, she was just as sharp and she seemed as confident as I was when I gave her the ‘go’ sign heading towards the half. Mark (trainer O’Mara) always does such a great job and he had her ready tonight.”

O’Mara co-owns the rugged mare along with Paul Johnson and Melvin Schmucker. Diamond Dagger now has an 11-3-5 scorecard in 34 starts and $77,010 on her card. Lifetime, she has banked $223,182 on the strength of 24 wins in 108 career starts. As the 3-5 favorite, Diamond Dagger paid $3.20 to her multitude of backers.

Prairie Fortune, driven by Jim Meittinis, used his typical late charging strategy to roll by his competitors midway through the lane to score in 1:55.2 — his margin 1-3/4 lengths over Boli, handled by Wally Hennessey. Sooo Handsome, driven by Rick Plano, finished a fast closing third while the early leader, Bobs Hope, was fourth. The favorite, Rockn Stien, made a miscue leaving but did recover to pick up the nickel in the octet.

Indeed, it was Bobs Hope who flashed speed leaving along with Boli, who began his journey from the outside post. After the :27.4 opening panel, Boli took command and took the field halfway home in a well rated :58. At this point, Prairie Fortune was seventh but on the move with a double-bubble binge that took him to fourth past the three-quarter mark in 1:27. Turning for home, Prairie Fortune pulled alongside Boli and took command with authority on the strength of a :28 final quarter.

In a post-race interview, driver Jim Meittinis related, “Well, I was a bit concerned at the half (:58). I would rather have seen :56 and a piece but it is what it is. I just gave him the racetrack on the backstretch and he responded like he usually does. He can brush a long, long way and he did that tonight.”

The 5-year-old gelded son of Arapa Victory won for the ninth time this semester and 36th time during his splendid career measuring 82 starts. Trained by Mike Deters, who co-owns with Laurie Poulin, Prairie Fortune now has $278,910 in lifetime earnings — $74,365 this year. Off as the 8-5 second choice, Prairie Fortune paid $5.40 to win.

Driver Bryce Fenn reached a career milestone on Wednesday night by driving An The Thunderolls to a sharp win in 1:54. The win was the third straight for the 3-year-old altered son of Canyon Wind and turned out to be the 2,500th career victory for Fenn, who was in the bike for owner-trainer Mike Sweeney.

Said the soft-spoken Fenn of his accomplishment, “It’s nice. Mike (trainer Sweeney) has him very sharp right now, so I’ll just give the credit to the horse and leave it at that.”

Fenn has been in the harness racing industry for more than four decades and was featured on a 1975 Hoof Beats cover when he was 15 years old.

Racing continues on Sunday night with a trio of carryovers awaiting in the opening superfecta ($3,338.68), Pick-6 ($4,139.65) and Super Hi-5 ($12,331.33). Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.