by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Godiva Seelster, handled by Wally Hennessey, finally got her initial victory of 2016 when she conquered five other rivals in Pompano Park’s Tuesday night (April 5) feature, the $11,000 Open Handicap for mares, in 1:52.

At the same time, the amazing mare stretched her streak of earning purse checks to 80, encompassing her entire seasons as a 3-, 4-, 5- and, thus far, 6-year-old. The last time Godiva Seelster missed a purse check was Sept. 9, 2012.

Skip Smith photo

Godiva Seelster took top honors in Pompano Park’s featured pace for mares on Tuesday night in 1:52.

The classy 6-year-old daughter of Camluck, trained by Dan Hennessey for owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil, survived a roughed up beginning before taking control shortly after the opening panel and going on to score a two length win over All Charged Up, driven by John MacDonald, with Southwind Trini, with Steve Condren in the bike, next. Goldstar Rockette finished fourth while Limelight, prominent early, held on to earn the final award in the sextet.

When the wings folded, Limelight left with alacrity as did All Charged Up with Godiva Seelster, beginning from the outside post in her field, also getting into the mix while widest of all and with Hennessey needing to make a decision to take a seat in third early or go on vying for the lead. He chose the latter strategy and after a first quarter in :27.3, charged up strongly to assume command about three-eighths into the mile.

The pace quickened even further as Godiva Seelster reached the half in :55 and maintained a 1-1/2 length advantage over Limelight with All Charged Up now out of third and trying to gnaw into the leader’s margin. Passing the final station before home in 1:23.2, Godiva Seelster was more than up to the task as she strolled home in :28.3, never threatened in the final stages of the mile.

In a post-race interview, driver Wally Hennessey had high praise for his stable star saying, “She’s just an amazing mare that gives her best every step of every mile of every race. I ask and she answers. It’s as simple as that. She does the best she can through thick and thin. She’s just a rare racehorse. This wasn’t the easiest of trips for her as she was roughed up a bit leaving, but once we got to the top, she just took me around the oval the rest of the way. Got to give the credit to her as all I did was steer!”

The win for Godiva Seelster was her 26th during her illustrious career, pushing her lifetime bounty to $247,467 — $27,750 so far this semester. As the 2-5 favorite, Godiva Seelster paid $2.80 to her multitude of backers.

The popular Over The Hill Gang trotting series continued on Tuesday night with Mad Cow Lisa and driver Aaron Byron teaming up for the win clocked in 1:57.4. The 10-year-old daughter of Wenceslaus held off the late surging Go Jesse Go, handled by John MacDonald, by a half-length with On The Tab surging late for Wally Hennessey to pick up the show honors. Rompaway Beau, last throughout much of the mile, closed stoutly to finish fourth while the pacesetter, Adenium, finished fifth in the octet.

Indeed, it was Adenium blasting from the wings into an early lead, clocking fractions of :29 and :58.2 for the opening half. On the backside, Imminent Response (Kevin Wallis) sent his charge winging and even stuck a nose in front past the third marker in 1:26.4. In the lane, as these two slugged it out, the cavalry charge of Mad Cow Lisa, Go Jesse Go and On The Tab swarmed in as the hefty early fractions took their toll on the battling leaders.

For Mad Cow Lisa, trained by James Kaspar for owner Marshall Makin, it was her milestone 25th lifetime win — third this semester — sending her career bounty to $148,435. Though she had a 2-3-2 scorecard in her last seven starts, Mad Cow Lisa was sent off as the 8-1 sixth choice and returned $18.20 to win, keying a 20-cent 8-5-7-9 Superfecta payoff of $3,829.02.

Racing continues on Saturday night — the final Saturday program of the season — with post time set at 7:30 p.m.