By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs
(Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery)
Batavia, NY — Batavia Downs was the fourth different track that the recently landed Australian import Mirragon A has competed over since starting his North American career in June, but it didn’t dissuade this Aussie from winning the $15,000 Open I Handicap pace on Saturday night (Aug. 19).
Despite being assigned the outside in the field of six, Jim Morrill Jr. wasted no time pushing Mirragon A off the gate and to the lead, a position he controlled at the :27.2 quarter. With the field in single file, Mirragon A took the group to the half in :56.3 and three-quarters in 1:24.2 without any challenges to that point. But trouble was coming and his name was The Longest Yard (Kevin Cummings), who had pulled from fifth at the five-eighths and was making up ground very quickly heading into the final turn. As they entered the stretch, Mirragon A was in control by 1-¼ lengths and The Longest Yard was still over three lengths behind, but he persevered and kept closing the gap as the wire drew near. Not giving into the pressure, Mirragon A maintained his lead while holding off The Longest Yard and a late charging Stranger Things (Shawn McDonough) to win by one-quarter length in 1:53.
It was the fourth win in only seven North American starts for Mirragon A ($13.00) who is owned by his trainer Mike Deters, in partnership with Joel Warner and John Manning.
Morrill ended the night with a driving grand slam after also winning with Rock N Blue (1:55.3, $2.30), Reggiano (1:56.3, $4.20) and Just A Wrangler (1:57, $3.20).
The $13,000 Open II pace provided the biggest upset of the day when the overlooked Sporty Deal took full advantage of a class drop to score his sixth win of the year and reward his backers with a premium payout.
Sporty Deal (Keith Kash Jr.) was almost 10 lengths off at the quarter while Passe-Grille Beach (Ray Fisher Jr.) skated unabated through quarters of :27.1, :55.3 and 1:24.4. It was at that last station where Kash tipped Sporty Deal three-wide from sixth, circled the field and took the lead just as they hit the turn. Kash high-lined Sporty Deal and tried to put some real estate between themselves and the competition and it worked. Sporty Deal hit the stretch and paced away to a convincing 1:54.1 victory, which was a new seasonal mark.
L’Emmur Stable owns Sporty Deal ($43.20) who is trained by his driver, Kash.
Kash had a training/driving double as he also won with Starsnstripes GB (1:55.4, $7.10).
When live racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (Aug. 23) at 6 p.m. there will be a $5,601 carryover in the Jackpot Hi-5 pentafecta in the 13th race. Free full past performance programs for every live card of racing at Batavia can always be downloaded at the Downs’ website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the “Live Racing” tab and all the racing action can be viewed as it happens for free at the Batavia Downs Live Facebook page.