Boli, driven by Wally Hennessey, stalked the pacesetting Tater Twister, handled by Mike Simons, through fractions of :28, :56.2 and 1:24.4 and edged by that one late to score a half-length victory in Monday’s $10,000 Open Handicap Trot at Pompano Park.
The five-year-old altered son of Kadabra, trained by Dan Hennessey for owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil, earned his second win of the year in five starts and pushed his lifetime bounty over the $150,000 plateau—now $151,674—with his 17th career win in 53 starts. He took down a new race record of 1:54.2 en route to beating Tater Twister and Sooo Handsome.
After the race, driver Wally Hennessey related, “He got a very good journey tonight. Mike’s trotter (Tater Twister) was a tough opponent and he did most of the work cutting the fractions and my horse just got the better trip here.
“Boli is a pretty amazing horse who gives all he’s got every start. He’s very versatile and that’s a great trait in a racehorse because it gives you more options to win.”
Boli returned $5.40 to win.
Also on Monday night, three divisions of the C.K.G. Billings Amateur Driving Challenge were contested, honouring the memory of the noted industrialist and horseman and the owner of the sport’s first 2:00 trotter, Lou Dillon, who accomplished that feat in 1903.
A Crown For Lindy, driven by Dein Spriggs won the opener, Garlandsandpearls, also teaming up with Spriggs, took round two and Best Dream Seeker, with Joe Pennacchio in the bike won the finale.
Spriggs kicked off the festivities with a handy win back of his own A Crown For Lindy, the 11-year-old son of Cantab Hall.
Trained by Allen Saul, the classy gelding won for the 54th time in a career stretching 206 starts, stopping the teletimer in 1:58.1.
New Scent, with Joe Faraldo in the sulky, finished second while Flaming Yankee finished third for “Touchdown” Teddy Bowman after taking command early and slicing through panels of :28.2, :58.1 and 1:28 before being confronted around the final turn and succumbing to the winner.
A Crown For Lindy now has lifetime earnings of $416,834 and enriched his multitude of followers with a $3.00 win payoff.
Spriggs doubled his pleasure with Garlandsandpearls, which he also owns, by guiding that six year-old son of Futile Qwest to a gate-to-wire win in 1:57.3, after putting up all the numbers--:28.2, :58.3 and 1:27.4.
Garlandsandpearls stretched his lead to 3-1/2 lengths on the line with Irish Scotch (Shane Arsenault) second after a first over backside binge from fifth. JLS Too Hot Taj (Steve Oldford) finished third.
Garlandsandpearls won for the fifth time this semester and his 5-2-3 scorecard in 13 starts now shows earnings of $16,005.
Also trained by Alan Saul, Garlandsandpearls returned $6.60 as the second choice in the wagering.
The driving double for Spriggs sent his career total to 431 wins.
The final Billings event—a rare pace—went to Best Dream Seeker for driver Joe Pennacchio.
Owned and trained by Stanley Whittemore, this 11-year-old gelded son of Cambest won for the 30th time in a career encompassing 297 starts.
Best Dream Seeker was third in the early stages of his mile as A Weekend (Joe Faraldo) cut panels of :27.2, :58 and 1:26.1 as Dr Flamingo (Hannah Miller) sat in the garden spot through those fractions.
Around the final turn, Pennacchio tilted his charge to the outside and began gnawing away at the leader, gaining the lead at mid-stretch and drawing clear late. Dr Flamingo edged by A Weekend to be second.
For Best Dream Seeker, whose mark is 1:51.4 taken back in 2008 at Lexington’s Red Mile, the win pushed his career bounty to $412,621.
Best Dream Seeker paid $3.80 to win.
While the win was number 158 in Pennacchio’s amateur driving career, it was only win number six back of a pacer, as the vast majority of his drives are with trotters.
Racing continues on Tuesday night with a $10,000 guaranteed pool for the Pick-4, contested on races 6 through 9, as part of the USTA Strategic Wagering program.
Post time is 7:20 p.m.
(Pompano Park)