Southwind Tempo, Tetrick win Betsy Ross

Southwind Tempo became the fastest pacing mare on a five-eighths mile track when she hit the wire in 1:48.3 to win the $250,000 Betsy Ross at Harrah's Chester Sunday afternoon.

Four Starzz Meliss (Luc Ouellette), one of last week's elimination winners, started from post one and rushed to the lead. Driver Brian Sears attempted to put My Little Dragon on the point, but was parked through the quarter in :26.2 and the half in :54.3.

As the field raced past the half and over the bridge, Martha Maxine (Andy Miller), who had made a quick  three-wide brush from seventh on the clubhouse turn, took on the pacesetting Four Starzz Meliss and then cleared before reaching the three-quarter mile marker in 1:21.1.

In the stretch drive Martha Maxine and Darlins Delight, who had slipped out of the pocket behind Four Starzz Meliss on the far turn, battled but Southwind Tempo suddenly burst into the fray and rallied for the win for driver Tim Tetrick. Martha Maxine and Darlins Delight wound up finishing in a dead-heat for place.

The 1:48.3 clocking eclipsed Esmeralda Semalu's 1:49.4 world record clocking earlier this year at Pompano for an older pacing mare on a five-eighths mile oval.

"There was a lot of speed. I was hoping for a lot of fractions, and it worked out for me," Tetrick said. "I just sat back, saved a lot of ground, and got out when I needed to."

Ross Croghan trains Southwind Tempo, a 5-year old Bettors Delight mare, for owners Jerry Silva and Let It Ride Stables Inc. She won for the first time in three tries in 2009 and for the 27th time in her career. The winner's share of the $250,000 purse boosted her earnings for the year to $145,200 and her career bankroll to to over $1.44 million.

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