by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Panocchio, the brilliant 7-year-old gelded son of No Pan Intended, conquered a trio of obstacles on Sunday night (Nov. 12) in scoring his 35th lifetime win at Pompano Park in the $11,000 Open Handicap Pace.

The obstacles he brushed aside were a strong million dollar field of competitors; the outside nine post; and near monsoon conditions enveloping the track and at the wire, driver Wally Hennessey had a 2-3/4 length margin over his nearest competitor in 1:51.4. E R Melvyn, handled by Rick Plano, finished second while Rockntouch, teamed with Mickey McNichol, was third. Bestinthebusiness and Team Captain picked up the minor awards in the field of nine.

Skip Smith photo

Panocchio, driven by Wally Hennessey, won for the 35th time at Pompano Park on Sunday night.

At the outset, Panocchio was away near the back of the pack but rushed up quickly thereafter to find himself third over — but sixth — at the opening quarter as Drachan Hanover and Rockntouch battled through that :27 marker with Team Captain third and Barbarian fourth on the outside and hung out to dry.

Drachan Hanover and Rockntouch were one-two past the half in a hot :55 over the sloppy racing oval with Barbarian next and ready to call it a night. That’s when Hennessey sent Panocchio on his devastating double-bubble brush that took him right to the front during the next eighth mile, followed by a similar move by E R Melvyn from seventh.

By the time they reached the third station in 1:23.4, Panocchio owned a daylight lead over E R Melvyn that kept widening right to the wire.

After the race, Hennessey related, “What a horse. What a pleasure to drive. You known Jimmy (trainer Mattison) doesn’t go too much with him in training miles — maybe a trip in 2:20 or 2:30 — but, when he sees the (starting) gate, he’s all business.

“I wasn’t that anxious leaving with him tonight because a bunch of them were leaving, so I went looking for a decent spot and there was none around so my only choice was to follow some cover and hope it took us far enough along. On the backside, I sent him on one of your ‘double-bubble’ moves and he responded like — wow!

“He amazes me every start.”

Panocchio now has a 57-27-12 scorecard in 136 career starts, good for lifetime bounty of $480,643, including his 35 wins here at Pompano Park, one of which is his track record 1:48.3 performance. For this season, Panocchio has nine wins in 28 starts and earnings of $83,225 for trainer Jim Mattison, who co-owns with Emile Johnson Jr. As the 3-2 favorite, Panocchio paid $5.00 to win.

Hennessey also captured the $10,000 co-feature with Duc Dorleans, who scored a very sharp decision in 1:52 over Major Starlight (Dave Ingraham) with Dee’s Rocket Man (Fern Paquet Jr.) a sharp closing third. Skip Jive was fourth in the field of nine while Sumthintallnstrong picked up the nickel.

Duc Dorleans, a 7-year-old altered son of Shanghai Phil, took command at the opening quarter in :27 and proceeded to wire together subsequent fractions of :55.1 and 1:23.2 before his :28.3 kick home was more than enough to get the job done — the margin being 3-3/4 lengths.

Trained by Jacques Dupont for Les Ecuries Dorleans Inc., Duc Dorleans won for the third time this semester in 18 starts and set a seasonal best time with the win. Career-wise, Duc Dorleans has 39 wins and $642,689 to go along with his Mohawk mark of 1:48.4. Third choice at 7-2, Duc Dorleans paid $9.20 to win.

Racing continues on Monday night with a Super Hi-5 finale jackpot swelling with a carryover of $7,794. Post time is 7:20 p.m.