by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Boli, handled by Wally Hennessey, bowled over his competitors early on in his mile to take command around the initial turn and went on to post a solid 1:55.3 win in Pompano Park’s $10,000 Open Handicap Trot on Wednesday night (Nov. 29).

The 5-year-old altered son of Kadabra posted fractions of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:26.4 along the way before his :28.4 finale sealed the deal by 1-1/2 lengths over the late charging Prairie Fortune, driven by Jim Meittinis. Sooo Handsome, with Rick Plano in his sulky, finished third after a trip in the garden spot throughout the journey. Favored Rockn Stien, assigned the outside post in this classy field, finished fourth after a tepid bid on the final turn while Railee Workable saved ground much of the journey to pick up the nickel.

In a post-race interview, driver Hennessey related, “Last week, we drew one post outside of Rockn Stien and he was able to wire us. This time, I had a spot one spot inside of him and we had that same opportunity — to get a jump on him.

“This was a well matched field and whoever gets the best trip has a chance of winning. I wanted to get the advantage this time so I sent Boli, who likes to join in the fun early anyhow.

“The half was very comfortable for him and I really didn’t have to ask him for anything tonight. He did this all on his own. He’s sharp right now — very sharp!”

Trained by Dan Hennessey for owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil, Boli won for the 12th time this year, sending his seasonal bankroll to $89,470. Career-wise, Boli now sports a 27-12-12 scorecard in 74 starts, good for $226,664. As the 8-5 second choice, Boli paid $5.40 to his consortium of faithful.

With all of the missile threats surrounding our existence these days, there were “bombs” of a different nature at the South Florida five-eighths oval on Wednesday night.

The first one was in the third race when An The Thunderolls, driven by Bryce Fenn, blew by the competition in the lane to score a 43-1 ($89.00) upset, triggering a 20-cent superfecta payoff of $3,926.42 and a $1 trifecta ticket worth $12,541.40. The win was Fenn’s 2,499th in his career stretching beyond when he was featured on the cover of Hoof Beats magazine in 1975.

As for An The Thunderolls, he was coming off a win in a lifetime best 1:56.4 the week before and lowered that by three full seconds on Wednesday night, covering the distance in 1:53.4 for owner-trainer Mike Sweeney.

The following race — Pompano Park’s pentafecta fourth — Mike Simons guided Eldorado Of Gold to a one length win in 1:56.1. Off at 10-1 ($23.00), Eldorado Of Gold keyed a 7-5-8-4-10 combo which returned $4,982.48 for the 20-cent ticket. Trainer Simons co-owns the winner with Albert Abdala III.

The final “bomb” occurred in the Super Hi-5 finale when Hoosier Hawk, off at 27-1, wired his foes for Andy Shetler, returning $56.20 to win. Coupled with Deli-Craze (16-1), Not In This Life (78-1), BJ Lorado (35-1) and All Star Fame (38-1), that 1-2-10-4-3 Hi-5 combo returned $38,629.32 for the 20-cent ticket. The winner is trained by Mike Murphy for owners Geneva Stewart and Barbara Murphy.

That “bomb,” incidentally, will set the stage for more fireworks on Sunday night as nobody could solve the superfecta in that event resulting in a carryover of $4,953.03 to Sunday’s first race superfecta.

There are also carryovers in the Pick-6 ($365.41) and Pick-5 ($2,629.48) heading into the Sunday festivities. Post time is set for 7:20 p.m.