by John Berry, for Pompano Park
Pompano Beach, FL — As the night of Wednesday (April 4) deepened over Pompano Park with the final race concluding, a 5-year-old trotting gelding left the winner’s circle after completing a victory of 1:55.2 for driver Wally Hennessey. Not only was it a new lifetime mark for PC’s Alleyway, it marked the 1,000th career training win for Patrick Sweeney, better known as Mike throughout the world of harness racing.
The 63-year-old Sweeney also has more than 700 career driving wins but, since the turn of the new century, has relied on catch-drivers to take his horses back of the starting gate.
While Sweeney’s success in the sulky stretches five decades, his career as a trainer began only 25 years ago and his expertise has been apparent with the success with both overnight race horses and stakes performers.
Among his many successes in recent years are stakes winners Walk Two Moons, An The Thunderolls, Aoliveinmymartini, Friends In Low Places, Girly Girl, Wild Bill M and Sue’s Your Daddy.
Sweeney is currently competing at South Florida’s Pompano Park, where he sports a .302 UTR average.