Behind the Gate 
     
    
   
   
    
     that made people take notice of me 
     
     because I drove him on a weekly basis. 
     
     Highland Heaser owned by Bertram 
     
     Cormier was not fast but he was as handy 
     
     as any horse that I have ever driven. The 
     
     nicest horse that I got to drive during 
     
     those years was Pennant Play through 
     
     my association with Romeo Boucher and 
     
     Alain Bergeron. Pennant Play was quick 
     
     like a cat and could get early position in 
     
     a race. If he got a breather during the 
     
     mile, he was tough to beat and he raced 
     
     against some very nice horses. It was 
     
     Pennant Play who probably put me over 
     
     the top for being noticed as a driver in 
     
     the Maritimes. The best horse that I ever 
     
     drove in the Maritimes before I left for the 
     
     United States was Eric and Harry 
     
     Whebby’s Waveore. He was the first 
     
     horse that I could say would drop his 
     
     rear—end and accelerate. There were so 
     
     many other quality horses that I trained 
     
     and drove for some very fine people in 
     
     the Maritimes." 
     
    
   
   
    
     More that 19 years have passed since 
     
     Wally and Barbie moved from their home 
     
     in Saint John, New Brunswick to take up 
     
     permanent residence in Coconut Creek, 
     
     Florida. Pompano Park became his new 
     
     home-base where in 2008 he and his 
     
     brother, Danny trained and raced a stable 
     
     of a dozen horses. Wally did the driving 
     
     which he loved but he also enjoyed shar— 
     
     ing the training. He really enjoyed both 
     
     aspects of racing and always would. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Until 2005, a ritual for Wally each summer 
     
     was to make the trek from Florida to the 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     lucrative and competitive sire stakes in 
     
     New York and surrounding states as a 
     
     catch driver. In the fall he would return 
     
     to Florida until the following summer and 
     
     the ritual would be repeated. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Since his move to the United States, this 
     
     veteran horseman has been associated 
     
     with literally thousands of horses. Some 
     
     were more memorable to him than oth— 
     
     ers for a variety of reasons. Monz’ Ma/eer 
     
     is an icon and a legend whose legacy of 
     
     accomplishments ranks her among the 
     
     greatest equines ever to set four feet on a 
     
     track. She was trained by the great trot- 
     
     ting specialist ]immy Takter who chose 
     
     Wally Hennessey to be her driver during 
     
     her outstanding career in North America 
     
     and Europe. It was extremely difficult for 
     
     Wally to find the words to put Moni 
     
     Maker and his own career into proper 
     
     perspective but he tried, “Everybody 
     
     knows that Mont" Maker stands out above 
     
     all the horses that I have ever sat behind. 
     
     She was the leading money earner of all 
     
     time until Varenne passed her recently. 
     
     She actually spoiled me because once 
     
     you drive a horse like Moni Maker with 
     
     her ability, strength and versatility, there 
     
     is no horse that I can compare with her. 
     
     She is simply incomparable.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     “Cambest, trained by Freddy Grant, was a 
     
     tremendous horse and probably the 
     
     fastest that I ever sat behind. For raw 
     
     speed, I don‘t think there has ever been 
     
     his equal from his progeny or others 
     
     even to this day, 18 years later. The 
     
     Chuck Sylvester trained Running Sea 
     
    
   
   
    
     15