Season best for PPk mare

The 6-year-old mare Fox Valley Mo Jo visited the winner’s circle for the second time in her last three starts when making a late charge down the lane to capture Wednesday’s $6,000 trotting feature at Pompano Park in a seasonal best 1:59.2.

Driven from post three by Daryl Bier, Fox Valley Mo Jo settled along the pylons in fifth place as Down Swing (Kevin Wallis) showed the way through opening fractions of :29.1 and :59.3, with a parked-out Fox Valley Cordial (John Kakaley) applying constant pressure from the outside.

As the trotters continued their march down the backstretch, Along Comes Kevin (Bruce Ranger) and Mighty Maori A (Daniel Clements) were angled three wide to pass a weakening Fox Valley Cordial, and quickly advanced on the leader, who reached the three-quarters marker in 1:29.

Down Swing entered the stretch with a one-length advantage, but that lead was quickly erased by Mighty Maori A, who pushed to the front midway down the lane.

With the finish line in sight, Might Maori A dug in determinedly in an attempt to retain the lead, but the 10-year-old veteran gelding could not hold off the four-wide charge from Fox Valley Mo Jo, who wrestled the top spot away in the final yards to prevail by three-quarters of a length at the wire.

Fox Valley Mo Jo returned $15.40, $7.20, $4.60 for the victory. Mighty Maori A paid $6.20, $6 for second, while Down Swing brought in $5.40 for third.

Owned by David Schneider of Coral Springs, Fla., and trained by Fred Cohen, Fox Valley Mo Jo is an Illinois-bred daughter of Vaporize, out of the Armbro Charger mare Fox Valley Carmen.

With her win in the Wednesday feature, Fox Valley Mo Jo has now prevailed in three of 13 outings this year, and has seasonal earnings of $14,815.

The victory by Fox Valley Mo Jo was the third of the evening for Cohen, who also won the second race on the card with Karen Miller ($4.60) and the third event with Legacy Franco N ($3.20). (Pompano Park)

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