by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Pure Barre and Just A Bee extended their winning streaks on Monday night (Jan. 12) as Pompano Park hosted a pair of Open events for mares — one for trotters and the other for pacers.

The grand mare Pure Barre, making her 100th lifetime start, overcame the outside nine post to score a near gate-to-wire win for Mickey McNichol in 1:55 for her 21st lifetime win.

Pure Barre, driven by Mickey McNichol, took top honors in Pompano Park’s Open Trot for Mares, scoring in 1:55.

Owned and trained by Tom Gonsalves, the now 7-year-old daughter of Classic Photo secured the lead around the opening turn and clocked panels of :27.3, :57.1 and 1:26 before sealing the issue with a :29 finale to score by 2-3/4 lengths over the late charging McTiny’s Hope, driven by Ben McNeil. M T Ur Pockets, well back early, finished third for Ed Hensley while Trot Fudge Sundae, a stout challenger around the final turn, was fourth. She’s All In rallied to get the nickel.

In a post-race interview, driver Mickey McNichol said, “Yes, we had the nine post but this mare is very handy out of the gate and likes to be in the thick of things from the get-go. There didn’t seem to be that much early speed in there, so I just let her do her own thing. She knows how to throttle and she knows how to relax — something she did in the second quarter. There was a bit of a challenge around that final turn but she was well in hand all the way home.”

Pure Barre, with only nine starts under her girth last year — her scorecard reading 5-3-0 with $34,280 — made her initial start of this new year just as she ended last season — with a win — to send her lifetime bounty to $220,145. As second choice in the wagering, Pure Barre paid $7.00 to her faithful.

Skip Smith photos

Just A Bee, with Mike Micallef holding the lines, earned her fourth straight win in the top pace for mares, stopping the timer in 1:51.

Just A Bee, known as the “Queen Bee” in this top class for mares off of three straight winning performances, justified her even money backing on the tote board by making it four in a row as she, too, was a near wire-to-wire winner for Mike Micallef. Her 1:51 triumph was measured as three-quarters of a length over McFlirty, driven by Ricky Macomber, Jr. Mach It A Par, longest prop on the board at 48-1, finished third for Dan Clements while P L Hula and Pertty Music earned the last two awards.

Starting from the outside post in her septet of mares, Just A Bee was on the fly from the get-go, stinging her way to the top spot around the first turn and buzzing through panels of :27, :55.3 and 1:23.1 before zipping home in :27.4.

The 7-year-old daughter of Mr Feelgood, owned by Anita Micallef, John Mc Goff and Greg Heath, won for the 27th time during her blossoming career, sending her lifetime earnings to $162,416.

After the event, driver Mike Micallef said, “When the gate opened, I really didn’t know if we were going for the top spot or somewhere close up. She’s very handy and has an attitude, kinda like ‘just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it!’ We’re riding the crest right now, so we have to enjoy this while we can. These other mares are very good, too, so each week is an adventure. Just A Bee is just very sharp now. Who knows how long this will last.”

Just A Bee returned $4.00 to win.

Once again the Super Hi-5 had multiple winners on Monday night — the consolation paid $1,437.46 — so the carryover to Wednesday’s program is close to $40,000.

Post time for the mid-week, 11-race card is 7:30 p.m.