by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Velocity Vespa, fresh off of a lifetime best 1:50.4 performance in Open 2 company one week ago, stepped up to the top of the ladder this week and scored a handy victory measuring 1-3/4 lengths in Pompano Park’s $11,500 Open Pace for mares (Jan. 13).

The 6-year-old daughter of I Scoot Hanover, racked up almost identical fractions as last week, as well, stopping the clock, again, in 1:50.4 for driver Kevin Wallis off of panels reading :26.2, :55.2 and 1:23.

Mach It A Par, with Dan Clements in the bike, finished second after a garden journey throughout while Just A Bee and Mike Micallef teamed up for show honors. Favored Safe From Terror finished fourth after trailing in her sextet much of the mile while Wild Wanda picked up the nickel after a backside brush left her just a length back of the leader around the final turn.

After the race, driver Kevin Wallis related, “She was so good last week on the front end that I thought I’d try that same strategy again. After all, you know the old saying, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

“She was very sharp last week and she was equally sharp tonight.”

Trained by Chris Oakes for owner Susan Oakes, Velocity Vespa won for the 24th time in 99 lifetime starts sending her career bounty to $178,737.

As the 5-2 third choice in the wagering, Velocity Vespa paid $7.20 to win.