by John Berry, for Pompano Park

Pompano Beach, FL — Pompano Park wrapped up its 126-night, 2017-2018 season on Wednesday night (May 30) with a competitive 11-race program highlighted by Boli taking the featured trot, Roll With Faith annexing the pacing feature for mares, Wally Hennessey hitting yet another grand slam and a mandatory payout on the track’s popular Super Hi-5 wager.

Boli had things his own way in the Open Trot as Wally Hennessey guided the 6-year-old gelded son of Kadabra to a handy 1-3/4 length win in 1:56.4 over Thundercrest, driven by Dave Ingraham. Cashahallic finished third for John Moody after a serious bid around the final bend while Railee Workable completed the order of finish.

Skip Smith photo

Boli was a confident winner in Pompano Park’s featured trot on closing night.

Starting from post three in his quartet, Boli burst off the wings with alacrity and took the field through an opening panel in a somewhat tepid :28.4 with Thundercrest in the garden spot after leaving from post one. With no challenges during the second panel, Boli hit the half in :59. Things picked up a bit on the backside as Cashahallic began his brush forward but Boli put him away once they reached the third station in 1:28. A :28.4 finale sealed the deal as Boli sent his scorecard for the year to 4-3-3 in 12 starts, good for $34,720 for owners Paul and Patricia O’Neil.

After the event, Hennessey remarked, “He was a perfect gentleman leaving the gate tonight and when we got to the lead so easily, I was confident he could go all the way. He relaxed during that second quarter and when he gets to the half in :59 like that, he’s going to be tough to beat.”

Trained by Dan Hennessey, Boli has now banked $269,384 lifetime to go along with his Pompano Park mark of 1:54.2. Off at 1-2, Boli returned $3.00 to his multitude of backers.

Hennessey also won with John Campagnuolo’s Modern Mercury ($3.00) in 1:57.1, Pink Gardinias ($2.80), also owned by Campagnuolo along with Alan Hyatt, in 1:55.3 and Herman Brewer’s Beijing Hanover ($4.60) in 1:57, a new lifetime mark.

The latter winner is a 7-year-old gelded son of Explosive Matter that has just begun his racing career — plagued by injuries up until recently. Trained by Rosie Huff, Beijing Hanover has won three of his first four career starts and, as Hennessey said, “his career is just getting started. It’s like he’s a 2-year-old and, if he can stay healthy, he’s got a career ahead of him.”

Roll With Faith, the consistent 4-year-old daughter of Roll With Joe, made a backside blast from third into the lead around the final turn and went on to win by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:53 for Dave Ingraham. Northern Dali was second for Wally Hennessey while Goldstar Rockette finished third for Bryce Fenn. Islay N finished fourth after cutting stiff opening panels of :26.3 and :56 before yielding past the third station in 1:24.1. Worldly Doll completed the order of finish.

Trained by John Mungillo, who co-owns with Finish Line Investors and Lawrence Willer, Roll With Faith earned her sixth win of the year, good for $32,229. She has career earnings of $63,807. Second choice in the betting at 6-5, Roll With Faith paid $4.60 to win.

The Super Hi-5 finale featured a $40,000 guaranteed poll and with that pool ballooning well over the $60,000 mark, the 1-6-4-5-7 combo paid $139.60 for the 20-cent ticket.

Veteran trainer Jim McDonald piloted the winner of that last race, Odds On Cheddar, to a maiden win in 1:57.1 for his Twenty Four Carrot Racing stable.

On the statistical side of the ledger, Wally Hennessey took the driving title in terms of wins with 231. Dave Ingraham, with a driving double on the card, finished second with 110 trips to the winner’s circle while John MacDonald (95 wins), Andy Santeramo (76) and Rick Plano (50) rounded out the top five followed by Mike Simons (47), Mickey McNichol (46), Jim Meittinis (46), Bryce Fenn (44) and Ricky Macomber Jr. (38).

In terms of winning percentage for drivers with a minimum of 126 starts, Hennessey was at the top of the list with a winning percentage of 26.5 percent while George Napolitano Jr. was second at 21.9. Andy Santeramo was next at 21.6 while John MacDonald was at 19. Rounding out the top five was Dave Ingraham at 17.2.

On the training side, John MacDonald edged out Gaston Lareau in a photo finish, 56-55. Mike Deters was third with 47 wins, followed by Mickey McNichol (41) and Dustin Ingraham (40). Eric Beach (35), Rick Plano (33), Nick Surick (30), Andy Santeramo (29) and Jim McDonald (29) completed the top 10.

In terms of winning percentage, Andy Santeramo was the leader in that category, winning 29 of 76 starts, a winning percentage of a lofty 38.2 percent. Dustin Ingraham was second at 25.5, followed by John MacDonald (23.4), Tony Dinges (22.9) and Mike Deters (22.1). Rounding out the top 10 in the category were Dan Hennessey (19), Joe Pavia, Jr. (19), Kim Sears (17), Jim McDonald (17), and Gaston Lareau (16.3).

The top five trainers in terms of purse earnings were Mike Deters ($440,610), Kim Sears ($337,286), John MacDonald ($326,275), Mickey McNichol ($286,566) and Gaston Lareau ($267,799).

Pari-mutuel racing returns to Pompano Park on Oct. 21 with FSBOA non-wagering sponsored stakes events scheduled for Oct. 6 and 13.