Once again, as he did last week, Hall of Fame driver Wally Hennessey swept both Open events at Pompano Park on Tuesday night (October 11), as he scored 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, which was her eighth win of the season. Tuesday’s win was a 1:54.1 cakewalk in gate-to-wire fashion. She cut the fractions in :27.4, :57.3 and 1:26.3 before uncorking a :27.3 sprint home to seal the deal.
Godiva Seelster’s margin of victory was four lengths over Goldstar Rockette (driven by Kevin Wallis) and Leavveumlady (Tim Maier). De Valeria was fourth in the quintet – it was the exact order of finish in last week's event. Keystone Christa finished fifth.
Godiva Seelster has now only missed one cheque 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.
Godiva Seelster paid $2.10 to win.
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), who raced in the garden spot for most of the journey, finished third, four lengths away. McKenzies Star and Sailer Eddie finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Boli, who was perfectly mannered on Tuesday, darted out of the gate from Post 5, while Prairie Fortune, who started from the outside post, was unhurried early and dawdled more than six lengths back through opening panels of :28.2, :57.3.
On the backside, Prairie Fortune took up the chase and put a three-length dent through an official third quarter of :29.1. He gnawed 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 No. 8 from 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.
Racing continues on Sunday night with a scheduled start time of 7:20 p.m., highlighted by a Super Hi-5 carryover of more than $6,800.
(With files from Pompano Park)