Pompano Beach, FL…October 12, 2016…Once again, as he did last week, harness racing's Hall of Fame driver Wally Hennessey swept both Open events at Pompano Park on Tuesday night (October 11), scoring in the Mares Open 1 Pace with Godiva Seelster and the Open 1 Trot with Boli.
Both are trained by Dan Hennessey for owners Paul and Patricia O'Neil.
Godiva Seelster, the splendid six year-old daughter of Camluck, scored her 33rd lifetime victory–eighth the year–this one a 1:54.1 cakewalk in gate-to-wire fashion off panels of :27.4, :57.3 and 1:26.3 before a :27.3 sprint home sealed the deal.
Her margin of victory this night was four lengths over Goldstar Rockette (Kevin Wallis) and Leavveumlady (Tim Maier) with De Valeria fourth in the quintet–the exact order of finish in last week's event. Keystone Christa picked up the final award.
Godiva Seelster now has missed only one check over the past four seasons–"my fault," driver Hennessey said–and now has a career bankroll of $305,775 to go along with her mark of 1:50.4f.
She, again as she was last week, a nickel of a dollar in the betting and paid $2.10.
Boli an altered four year-old son of Kadabra, led every long stride of his mile and held off the furious late surge of Prairie Fortune (Mike Deters) to eke out a photo finish victory measuring a neck in 1:55.3.
Driving Miss Crazy (John Mac Donald), in the garden spot most of the journey, was third, four lengths away with McKenzie's Star and Sailer Eddie next in the sextet.
In that event, Boli, perfectly mannered this night, darted out of the gate from post five while Prairie Fortune, starting from the outside post, was unhurried early, dawdling more than six lengths back through opening panels of :28.2, :57.3.
On the backside, Prairie Fortune took up the chase, putting a three length dent through an official third quarter of :29.1 and gnawing away with a :28.1 closer of his own to miss by a stride or two.
Boli returned a $4.80 mutuel as second choice.
After these events, Hennessey said, "Well, what can I say that hasn't been said about Godiva. She's just a grand mare that knows how to take care of herself and gives a superior effort every time she steps on the track.
"Boli, on the other hand, can be a brat on occasion but I will say he was a perfect gentleman tonight and he dug in nicely late to preserve the win.
"Prairie Fortune is quite a trotter, you know, so the difference tonight was the fact that he was several lengths back early on."
For Boli, it was win number eight in 20 starts with his 2016 bounty now registering $62,962 and $122,614 lifetime.
While he owns a 1:54.4 mark here at Pompano, his official mark is 1:54.4 over the Saratoga half miler.
Also on Tuesday night, the fourth leg of the Sunshine State Stakes was held in four classes with Gold Star Mysti, Chism taking their respective sophomore divisions and Prairie Cowgirl and Prairie Panther emerging victorious in their respective juvenile races.
Gold Star Mysti, a three year-old pacing daughter of Mysticism, kept her 2016 season unblemished–now three-for-three–with a very game 1:56.2 performance for Walter Ross, Jr. to eventually score a four plus length win over Diamond Lily (Hennessey) with Goldstar Lovebug (Joe Sanzeri) next.
Caitlin's Romance was fourth in the mile while Jaycie Jaycie picked up the nickel in the sextet.
At the outset of that one, "Mysti" played musical chairs with Gold Star Lovebug with Jaycie Jaycie third early on before making a miscue past a :28.4 opener–Diamond Lily then inheriting the third spot.
On the backside, Diamond Lily then engaged in a war with Gold Star Mysti with Lily sticking her head in front at the third station in 1:28.2.
But Gold Star Mysti's :28 finale sealed the win as she pulled away for a win measuring 4 1/4 lengths.
Trained by Maggie Audley for her owner-mom Marianne, Gold Star Mysti paid $3.80 as the second choice.
There was a mild upset in the three year-old division for pacing colts and geldings as R Chism ($16.20), handled by Fern Paquet, Jr., put away the 1 to 10 favorite, Gleneagles (Hennessey) with a sprint home from the garden spot to score in 1:55 for his maiden win 11 starts–though he did have a qualifying record of 2:03.4 last semester.
Chism,starting from post five in his quintet, darted out to the top spot before yielding just past the :28.1 opening panel to Gleneagles. These two remained one-two through fractions of:56.3 and 1:25.4 before Chism wore down his worthy opponent just outside the sixteenth pole.
Danza (Aaron Byron) was third while I C U Diamond T was next. Conman's Dream completed the order of finish after making an uncharacteristic break leaving.
The two year-old events were contested off the betting card and driver-trainer Mike Deters swept both of these non-wagering events, scoring with Prairie Cowgirl winning the event for pacing fillies and Prairie Panther taking the division for the boys.
Prairie Cowgirl, a full sister to Prairie Sweetheart, broke her maiden in just her second lifetime start with a 2:00 performance–wire-to-wire–off of fractions of :29.1, 1:00.1 and 1:30.2 before jogging home in :29.3 for a win measuring 2 1/2 lengths over the late charging Tay Tay M (Hennessey) with Gold StarAurora next after recovering from an early miscue and spotting the field some 15 lengths.
Golden Diamond and PF Silver Classic completed that rundown.
Owned by Laurie Poulin along with John Spindler and trainer-driver Deters, Prairie Cowgirl now sports a 2-1-1-0 scorecard as her career begins.
Prairie Panther, a gelded son of Royal Millennium and a half brother of the fast Prairie Jaguar, also won in wire-to-wire fashion, covering his mile with fractions of :29, :58.2 and 1:28.2 before a :28.2 closer stopped the tele-timer in 1:56.4 and left him almost eight lengths to the good of Gold Star Bugsy (Hennessey) and Gold Star Spider (Ross, Jr.) third. Maybe Ned and fifth son completer the roster in that one.
Prairie Panther is owned by Laurie Poulin along with Deters.
Racing continues on Sunday night with a scheduled start time of 7:20 highlighted by a Super Hi-5 carryover of more than $6,800.
by John Berry for Pompano Park
