by John Berry, for Pompano Park
Pompano Beach, FL — While Modern Mercury and Born To Thrive shared the Wednesday night (Feb. 28) spotlight with victories in their respective $11,000 Open trotting events, they played second fiddle to Pompano Park’s Super Hi-5 finale, as one unique ticket had the correct 7-3-5-9-6 combo worth $282,244.66.
Purchased through Xpressbet, the as yet unidentified winner had the 9-2 chance, BJ Lorado, with Andy Santeramo driving, on top with Deepwell (22-1) second, Savin Rock (77-1) third, Deli-Craze (5-1) fourth and Juts Like Bud (30-1) fifth. The even money favorite, Cowboy Hall, made an early miscue to set things in motion for the record Pompano Park payoff.
Those who may have caught the other exotic offerings in the race were handsomely rewarded as well, as the trifecta returned $4,615.00 and the 20-cent superfecta paid $8,239.36.
Skip Smith photo
Modern Mercury scored a repeat win in the featured trotting event for mares on Wednesday.
On the race track, Modern Mercury scored a repeat win in her event as driver Wally Hennessey sent this 5-year-old daughter of Donato Hanover straight to the front and recorded fractions of :27, :56.2 and 1:25.1 before her :29.3 finale sealed the deal in 1:54.4, a seasonal best.
Trained by Rob Harmon for owner John Campagnuolo, Modern Mercury hit the wire 1-1/2 lengths to the good of the late charging Second Sister, handled by the Cardiac Kid, Jim Meittinis. Pocket-sitting She’s All In, with Rick Plano in her sulky, finished third while A TC Queenie finished fourth. Celebrity Artemis picked up the nickel in the classy sextet.
After the race, Hennessey said, “She (Modern Mercury) is very sharp right now. I sent her because her other two wins this year were on the front and I wanted to try and get a jump on Rick’s (Plano) mare (She’s All In), who seems to like the pocket, and the other Rick’s (Schaut) mare, (A TC Queenie), who took a week off and was outside. Tonight, it just worked out our way.”
Modern Mercury won for the third time this semester in nine starts, good for $22,000 so far this young season. Lifetime Modern Mercury has banked $116,875 to go along with her mark, just one tick faster than her Wednesday performance. Off at 3-5 on the tote, Modern Mercury paid $3.40 to win.
Born To Thrive, patiently driven by Rick Plano, took the feature for the male counterparts with a very sharp come-from-behind performance in 1:54.2 — trotting his last three-quarters in 1:24.4 — to score by 1-3/4 lengths over a quick closing Prairie Fortune, with Jim Meittinis in the bike. Boli, handled by Wally Hennessey, was next after carving up panels of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:26.1. Uncle Hanover and Skyway Pippin completed the roster in this quintet.
In a post-race interview, driver Rick Plano remarked, “Well, there’s not much to add as the horse did all the talking in this one. He can grind forward a long way and he is very eager right now. Seems to love to hit the racetrack.”
The winner, a 5-year-old gelded son of Swan For All, is also trained by Plano for Victor Contento, Maryann Plano and John Campagnuolo, giving the latter owner a daily double of his own with the aforementioned mare, Modern Mercury, a winner in the distaff feature.
Born To Thrive now sports a 6-1-0 scorecard in eight starts and $30,400 in bounty. Career-wise, the gelding now has banked $226,738. Also off at 3-5, Born To Thrive returned $3.40 to his multitude of followers.
Racing continues on Saturday night with the Miller-Tetrick Pro-Am Challenge, a five-race extravaganza featuring the two superstars benefitting the Make-A-Wish Foundation and New Vocations. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.