by Garnet Barnsdale

Monday night’s (April 17) fifth race at Mohawk (above) produced a thrilling finish when 5-year-old trotting mare April Rose reached up right on the shadow of the wire to nail pacesetter Finish Line. In addition to the consistent mare providing a juicy $22 payoff to her backers, there were a few factors that made this race buzzworthy. First, the $13,500 in earnings represented the biggest payday yet for the SJs Caviar—Show Me The Bling mare, who was racing as low as the $10,000 claiming level (and not winning) last July at Harrah’s Philly. Second, it was the 11th straight check earned by the mare since a sixth-place finish in her first start for new connections Ed and Ashley Hensley, who claimed her for $25,000 on Dec. 26 from the Rene Allard stable. Third, the improving mare has done all of the earning in the conditioned ranks, having not been tagged once by the Hensleys since the claim. Clearly, April Rose is one to watch for in the coming weeks and she won’t be hard to spot with her purple and pink rigging! She’s in to go Monday (April 24) in the $34,000 preferred (race nine) at Mohawk.