by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Coco Lindy earned a narrow photo finish decision on Wednesday (Jan. 14) as Pompano Park presented a highly competitive Open Handicap Trot along with the opening round of the Sea Eagle Late Closer for claiming pacers, which was contested in two divisions.

Skip Smith photo

Coco Lindy, with Wally Hennessey driving, eked out a photo finish win in Pompano Park’s top trot on Wednesday night in 1:54.3.

Coco Lindy, an 8-year-old altered son of Cantab Hall owned by the Lindy Farms along with Robert Rudolph, just did get up in the final stride to pin the nose decision in 1:54.3 over the pacesetting Its Payday Friday with Adenium third, three lengths away, in a virtual repeat of when these three hooked up in their last encounter on Dec. 30. Dukester and Majestic Won earned the final two awards in the field of seven.

Driven by Wally Hennessey, Coco Lindy played musical chairs early on with Its Payday Friday, handled by Dan Clements, with Coco Lindy taking command as the gate sprung open before yielding to Its Payday Friday at the opening marker, timed in :27.3. Adenium, with Kevin Wallis handling the lines, settled into third at this point with Dukester, M C Felix, Buddy Hally and Majestic Won following.

Positions remained stagnant among the first five through a half in :57.2 and, except for a bit of outside flow on the backside, the top two, Its Payday Friday and Coco Lindy, began separating from the remaining competition turning for home.

With the three-quarters timed in 1:26, Its Payday Friday dug in desperately to try and protect the lead but Coco Lindy kept gnawing away and just did get by in the very last stride.

In a post race interview, Hall of Fame driver Wally Hennessey said, “This is one game trotter. He’s just relentless. I know he likes the top spot but, the last two times I drove him, Dan’s (Clements) horse (Its Payday Friday) drew outside of us and I had to make a choice of whether to get into an all-out war or yield and get a garden trip. I’m glad I chose the latter — even though it gave me heart palpitations both times.”

Trained by Frank Antonacci, the lightly raced Coco Lindy won for the 30th time in only 77 lifetime starts to push his career bounty to $398,680. Even money on the tote board, Coco Lindy paid $4.00 to win.

The opening round of the Sea Eagle Late Closer — an event named in honor of the first Pompano Park winner on February 4, 1964 — was contested in two divisions with the opening round going to Oakmont and Rock N Go.

Oakmont, a recent purchase by trainer Dan McCartney and driven this night by Ed Hensley, made a quarter (:28.1) move to the front and carved remaining fractions of :56.3 and 1:25 before sealing a decision measuring three lengths on the strength of a :28.2 finale.

Orator and Mike Micallef teamed up to be second while Casino Captor, driven by Joe Sanzeri, rallied from last halfway through the mile to earn show honors. Four Starz Kyle and Deep Finesse also earned checks in the septet.

Oakmont, an 8-year-old son of I Am A Fool, earned his 25th lifetime victory to send his lifetime bankroll to $207,700. As the 8-5 second choice in the betting, Oakmont paid $5.40 to win.

Rock N Go, trained and driven by Kevin Wallis for owner Leona Morrissey, stretched his current winning skein to five with the win timed in 1:53 — his margin of victory three-parts of a length over Final Curtain (Bruce Ranger) with Who Dey (Mickey McNichol) third. Tivoli Hanover and Fox Valley Christo finished four-five, respectively, in the field of eight.

This 5-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover took command shortly after the :27 opener and rolled on through panels of :55.1 and 1:23.4 before coming home in :29.1 to seal the issue. As the 3-5 choice, Rock N Go paid $3.20 to win.

Once again, the Super Hi-5 had multiple winners on Wednesday night with the carryover going into Saturday night’s program now approaching $44,000. Post time for Saturday is 7:30 p.m.