by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — P L Hellcat, Dan Clements’ splendid 4-year-old son of Mach Three, known for his tremendous brushing power, brushed the entire mile on Saturday (Mar. 14) night in taking top honors in Pompano Park’s top pacing feature—the $13,500 Open.

Trained by Renaldo Morales, III, P L Hellcat led at every pole—:27.1, :56.1 and 1:23—in route to a victory measuring a length over the fast closing Raji’s Blue Line (Mike Micallef) in 1:51.1.

Neptune (Aaron Byron) finished third while Cadillac Phil, showing early speed before being shuffled on the backside, rallied quickest of all—:27.3—to finish fourth. Heart Felt, prominent throughout the mile, finished fifth in the septet.

After the race, driver Dan Clements said, “I left out of there expecting to get a two-hole journey but it didn’t work out that way at all. We got some pretty serious pressure on the backside—:26.4—but he was up to the task. He does have some kind of brush…but, tonight, he brushed the whole mile! He was very good. I am proud of him!”

The lightly raced 4-year-old, P L Hellcat now sports a report card of 3-2-0 in six starts and $24,630 for the year. He’s banked $ 123,304 lifetime in only 27 career starts.

Even money on the tote-board, P L Hellcat returned $4.20 to his many faithful followers.

Also on the card, Pompano Park champion Prairie Jaguar returned to his winning ways with a splendid wire-to-wire win for Peter Wrenn in 1:51.1 in a $10,000 conditioned event for pacers.

The now 7-year-old son of Spy Hard cut opening panels of :27 and :55.2 before sprinting through a sizzling third quarter of :26.4 to dispel any threats as the pocket-sitting Hillybilly (Bruce Ranger) and Northern Companion (Dave Ingraham), eventually second and third, respectively, in the mile, were not about to gain any ground during that backside binge—the winning margin being two lengths.

Prairie Jaguar now has 22 lifetime wins and $168,827 lifetime.

Owned by Laurie Poulin along with trainer Mike Deters, Prairie Jaguar is the only horse in Pompano Park history with six wins in 1:50 or faster—his mark being 1:49.

Prairie Jaguar paid $3.20 to win.

In Pompano Park’s Super Hi-5, Histoire Eternelle, handled by Peter Wrenn, was the winner in a lifetime best mile 1:51.3, significant because the victory enabled track announcer Gabe Prewitt to sweep the card, handicapping all nine winners on top.

The Super Hi-5 had multiple winners on Saturday night, the .20-cent consolation of 5-3-4-2-6 paying $85.10–pushing the carryover for Sunday night’s card over the $37,500 mark.

Post time is 7:30 p.m.